ROYAL COLLEGE OF OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNAECOLOGISTS
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title
Assistant Editor, BJOG
Department
Journals and E-Publishing Unit
Grade
5
Post Holder
Vacant
Responsible to
Managing Editor, RCOG Journals
Liaison with
Editor-in-Chief of BJOG
Editors of BJOG
Editorial Board of BJOG
Authors and reviewers
External staff of Allen Press
Colleagues within the Publications Department
Colleagues within other College Departments, e.g. Finance
Production Editor at Wiley-Blackwell
Journal team at Wiley-Blackwell
Freelance contacts e.g. Editorial office, Podcast technicians and Journalists
Hours
35
The Role:
BJOG is a peer reviewed, editorially independent medical journal owned by the Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Published monthly plus one themed issue as 13 issues per volume
in a calendar year, it is international in scope in both readership and authorship. BJOG publishes
original research in all areas of both clinical work and basic science, including maternal and fetal
medicine, uro-gynaecology, reproductive medicine, epidemiology, oncology and women’s health
medicine. Its aim is to publish the highest quality medical research in women’s health worldwide.
The post holder is responsible for supporting the Managing Editor, RCOG Journals in achieving the
effective functioning of BJOG systems and for facilitating editors, reviewers and authors in carrying
out the peer-review process.
Purpose:
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To support new BJOG scientific editors in the use of the journal’s online peer review system.
To monitor the performance of BJOG scientific editors.
To monitor the online availability of BJOG.
To monitor the journal’s peer reviewers.
To check each paper after final acceptance and to work with each scientific editor and the
authors to decide proportions of each paper allocated to print and online versions.
To write copy for the BJOG e-newsletter.
To keep up to date the instructions to authors.
To assess the performance of the Editorial Board and to select potential new members.
To create ‘virtual issues’ of BJOG, in liaison with Wiley-Blackwell.
To ensure that records for all Editorial Board members and Editors are up to date.
To enable easier participation by non-UK-based Editors and Editorial Board members.
To deputise for the Managing Editor, RCOG Journals
Main Duties (this list of duties will be refined by the post holder and Managing Editor):
1. Assisting authors and reviewers of papers submitted to the journal via AllenTrack
2. Checking papers with final acceptance decisions to assess whether any tables or figures could
be published online only. Liaison with the responsible scientific editor and the authors to alter
and upload the files accordingly.
3. Editing and abbreviating the contribution to authorship entry.
4. Coordinating papers sent for Wiley-Blackwell technical editing, sending the resulting edited
version back to the author to deal with queries and gaining the Editor’s final approval for the
revised paper.
5. Managing accounts and permissions in AllenTrack
6. Updating the RCOG special interest group calendar with Editors’ meetings and relevant
events.
7. Ensuring that the RCOG Blair-Bell page on the RCOG website is updated with a link to the
Blair-Bell abstracts published in BJOG, annually.
8. Proofreading of the ‘Snippets’ and the ‘International’ column.
9. Uploading Journal Club/Mini Commentary submissions to AllenTrack, linking to the appropriate
papers.
10. Updating the BJOG pages of the RCOG website.
11. Maintaining the Editor profiles and Editor disclosure of interests pages on www.bjog.org.
12. Collecting completed ICMJE disclosure of interests forms from all Editorial Board members and
Statistical reviewers.
13. Alerting the Wiley-Blackwell Production Manager of all team changes for the print journal.
14. Liaising with Membership department at the RCOG for the supply of replacement BJOG issues.
15. Uploading press releases to www.bjog.org on the day of release. Checking that the RCOG
website has been updated and that the correct URL to the paper has been inserted and is
working and the reference is correct (DOI present). Alerting CrossRef if the DOI link is not
working.
16. Monitoring papers that have been in AllenTrack for longer than 6 weeks.
17. Sending letters of congratulations to the authors of top 20 cited and/or downloaded papers.
18. Sending a list of all BJOG reviewers from the previous year to production annually.
19. Liaison with RCOG press office.
20. Processing editor payments in liaison with the Publications Coordinator
21. Maintaining the theme issue spreadsheet of all submissions and their status for the theme
issue editors.
22. Administering all editors’ meetings
23. Assisting with the minutes of the BJOG Editorial Board and Management Committee, as
necessary
24. Other duties may be given by the Managing Editor, BJOG Journals.
Note: This job description reflects the present requirements of the post. As duties and responsibilities
change and develop the job description will be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation
with the job holder.
Signed by:
Date:
ROYAL COLLEGE OF OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNAECOLOGISTS
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Qualifications/training
Essential/desirable
A professional qualification, such as degree/HND/postgraduate
qualification in publishing/printing
First degree in a scientific discipline
Qualification from a professional body (e.g. SfEP)
Desirable
Desirable
Desirable
Previous experience
Experience
Experience
Experience
Experience
Experience
of
of
of
of
of
STM (scientific, technical and medical) journal publishing
online peer review systems
working in a medical or science publishing environment
working with scientific journal editors
training
Essential
Desirable
Desirable
Desirable
Desirable
Key skills/attributes
Professional expertise in the areas of STM journal editorial work, including
peer review, editing, proof-reading
Strong organisational skills and ability to manage time effectively
A flexible but meticulous and methodical approach to work and a
willingness to undertake a wide variety of tasks
Excellent IT skills, including good knowledge of all Microsoft Office
programs
Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate with people
at all levels, both verbally and in writing
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Other requirements
Knowledge of medical terminology
Membership of a professional body (e.g. SfEP, EASE)
Desirable
Desirable