The Royal Society of Victoria seeks expressions of interest from its Members in contributing as an Associate Editor to the publication of papers in our journal and the production of position papers reflecting the deliberations of our annual membership forums. This will be an honorary position.

Journal Editorial Responsibilities: Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria

Associate Editors will have responsibility for handling manuscripts and advising the Editor-in-Chief of the suitability of manuscripts for publication. The role includes the selection of appropriate referees, reading reports, reaching a preliminary decision, reading a revised manuscript, overseeing possible further review and revision, and recommending a final decision (to the Editor-in-Chief).

Associate Editors also invite submissions to the Journal and/or facilitate Special Issues. Associate Editors correspond with the Editor-in-Chief and Journals Publisher about difficult decisions, while the Editor-in-Chief oversees adjudication.

Subject to needs, Associate Editors will receive editorial support from CSIRO PUBLISHING, including access to the web-based editorial management system and a dedicated Editorial Assistant based with CSIRO PUBLISHING.

Specific duties include:

• Managing timely, rigorous and constructive peer-review of articles by a broad range of appropriately chosen international referees while maintaining confidentiality
• Corresponding with referees, and authors, in a courteous and respectful manner
• Making comprehensive recommendations on manuscripts (i.e. acceptance or rejection) according to the editorial direction set by the Editor-in-Chief
• Representing the journal to the research community network as appropriate
• Commissioning content (in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief – propose and confirm topics, authors and timelines for commissioned works; once approved by the EiC, sending personal invitations to proposed authors; sending follow up invitations, reminders and any requested further information to potential authors; managing each manuscript through the peer-review process; maintaining regular consultation with the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, who coordinate which articles and Research Fronts/Special Issues will appear in which issues).

Position Paper Responsibilities

Associate Editors will comprise membership of the Editorial Oversight Group under the direction of the Editor-in-Chief. This group will govern the process through which Society’s membership forums move from receiving background issues papers through group exploration and consensus making to production of formal position papers.

A substantial component of the Group’s duties will be management of a peer review process, through which draft position papers are tested for the robustness of their scientific content and conclusions, along with the production of related scientific papers by consulting experts and RSV Fellows.

We seek applications from colleagues with demonstrated disciplinary standing in any one of the following broad categories:

Category I: Biological Sciences (non-human)

Agriculture, Biochemistry, Botany, Cell Biology, Ecology, Forestry, Zoology, and related areas of non-human biological science.

Category II: Biomedical and Health Sciences

Genetics, Immunology, Human Physiology, Human Anatomy, Pathology, Neurology, Epidemiology, Endocrinology, Radiology, Microbiology, Medical Parasitology, Nuclear Medicine, and related human sciences

Category III: Earth Sciences

Atmospheric Chemistry, Geology, Geochemistry, Geochronology, Geophysics, Planetary Physics, Meteorology, Oceanography, Physical Geography, Palaeontology and related sciences

Category IV: Physical Sciences

Astronomy, Astrophysics, Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics and related sciences.

Applications:

Please express your interest to the Editor in Chief care of [email protected], with a single page description of your background and experience in producing and/or editing scientific writing, along with a copy of your curriculum vitae.

While we are happy to hear from interested members at any time, we aim to appoint our Associate Editors in March, so would be grateful to receive submissions by no later than Monday, 28 February 2022.