manuscript coordinator position at Emory University

Preferred Qualifications               

The successful candidate must hold a bachelor’s degree, preferably in Psychology; English/Journalism majors with a concentration in Psychology will be considered. Experience in publishing, and knowledge of operations and guidelines for scientific journals is a plus. The candidate must have excellent written and oral communication skills, and the ability to build relationships with and communicate effectively and professionally with editorial staff, authors and referees. In addition, the candidate needs very strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and a willingness to work flexible hours. He or she must also be able to work effectively with minimal supervision, manage multiple competing responsibilities, make independent decisions utilizing critical thinking skills, and communicate decisions effectively. Finally, the candidate must be proficient in publication database management and web applications, including the Microsoft Office suite and the internet (employee will need to investigate information about researchers/referees worldwide).

Additional Job Details    

This employee is responsible for the review of scientific articles submitted to a well-known scientific journal. Duties include: reviewing manuscripts for adherence to APA style guidelines and publication policies; management of materials, such as contacting potential article reviewers and tracking receipt of reviews, maintaining an electronic database of manuscripts, reviews, and editorial correspondence, and maintaining editor and reviewer files. This employee is also responsible for managing the Journal office, including an annual budget and report for APA, managing copyright/publication forms, processing related paperwork, providing updates of journal operations to the editor and publisher, and assisting the editor with journal tasks as needed. The employee also troubleshoots issues related to author submissions, referee contributions and minor technical database problems, and clarifies policies as needed.

In addition, this employee will create mid- and end-of-year reports of journal operation statistics, including submission counts, rejection rate, lag time, etc., act as point of contact between APA and Emory University, use and manage various journal databases with information about submissions, authors, and referees, and act as a liaison between American Psychological Association personnel and editorial staff, authors and referees.

When not working on journal-related tasks, employee assists with other tasks in a research lab as requested, including but not limited to the following: participant recruitment and scheduling; phone screenings; website updates; assisting with lab visits; collecting, tracking, editing and analyzing data; managing study databases; training and supervising undergraduate assistants; creating progress reports; coordinating lab meetings; assisting with IRB submissions, amendments, and renewals.