Peer Review Manager

Washington, DC, US        ·        Full time Regular

Salary Range: $68,884.02 To 77,494.53 Annually

About the Society for Neuroscience

Founded in 1969, the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) now has more than 36,000 members in more than 95 countries. Year-round programming includes the publishing of two highly regarded scientific journals, JNeurosci and eNeuro; professional development resources and career training through Neuronline¸ the Society’s home for learning and discussion; science advocacy and public policy engagement including annual Capitol Hill Day; and a variety of engaging public outreach efforts, led by the expanding and interactive collection of public-facing resources on BrainFacts.org. SfN’s annual meeting regularly attracts more than 30,000 attendees, representing 80 countries; 536 exhibiting companies; and close to 300 journalists.

SfN exists to:

• Advance scientific exchange;
• Support the neuroscience community;
• Educate and engage the public; and
• Advocate for the field.

Position Summary

The Peer Review Manager oversees all peer review and day-to-day editorial operations for SfN’s two original research journals, The Journal of Neuroscience and eNeuro. Working closely with the journals’ Editors-in-Chief and editorial boards, the manager will enforce editorial and ethical policies, monitor industry trends and best practices, and otherwise maintain rigorous peer review and high-quality publications. They will also proactively identify and implement enhancements to the submission system, review process, and staff workflows.

Essential Job Functions

• Ensures the timely, fair peer review of all articles submitted to JNeurosci and eNeuro, following all established journal and field guidelines.
• Enforces, updates, and regularly reviews editorial policies to ensure compliance with industry best practices and standards.
• Ensures the journals maintain the highest standards of rigor and ethics, including by responding to allegations of misconduct, processing corrections and retractions, and administering plagiarism and data manipulation checks.
• Supports Editorial Boards, including conducting system onboarding, monitoring editor terms, processing regular honoraria payments, and planning and supporting regular Editorial Board meetings.
• Regularly reviews workflows and processes to ensure they remain thorough, efficient, and relevant.
• Monitors routine editorial expenses and regularly forecasts expected expenses against budget and provides support to the Director of Scientific Publications on setting the annual editorial budget.
• Provides data and statistics on submitted and accepted articles, time in review, and other key performance indicators to the Director of Scientific Publications, editors, and senior staff as needed.
• Ensures high-quality customer service to authors, editors, and reviewers.
• Serves as primary contact point for peer review system vendor; ensures the system operates smoothly and without interruption, remains up-to-date, and resolves bugs as quickly as possible.
• Collaborates with the Production Manager, Scientific Operations Manager, Subscriptions and Licensing Specialist, and other internal stakeholders as needed.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervises three Editorial Assistants.
• Delegates effectively, communicates expectations clearly, and provides professional development opportunities.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 5 years of experience in scholarly medical or scientific publishing focused on peer review or editorial management and editorial policies and standards. 
• Minimum 1 year of supervisor or team-lead experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Requires a comprehensive understanding of scholarly publishing, peer review, editorial board management, and editorial standards.  
• Experience with the peer review/submission system required; experience with eJournal Press preferred.
• Must be able to work under tight deadlines while achieving high standard of quality and accuracy. 
• Must be highly organized, detail oriented, and proactive in solving problems. 
• Must be able to set priorities and work independently.
• Demonstrated effective business communication (written and verbal) and presentation skills.  
• Must be able to work constructively with vendors, authors, editors, customers, and staff.  The ability to work in a fast paced, small team environment is essential and required, including handling many projects at once and being flexible in prioritizing assignments.  

Work Environment

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Location: 

Remote: Employees can work remotely as part of a 35-hour workweek with core hours from 10am-3pm Eastern time. A reliable high-speed internet connection is essential. 

Physical demands 

While performing duties of the job, employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health plan through United Healthcare with a fully funded HRA up to $1,500, plus dental and vision coverage through MetLife
• Hybrid or remote work environment depending on the position
• 40-52 days of annual paid time off based on tenure, including holidays, vacation, and sick leave
• 20 days of paid parental leave for new parents
• Retirement plans with employer contributions up to 8%
• Education assistance
• ASAE memberships
• Wellness and technology stipend
• Flexible Fridays
• Employee assistance plans
• Life and disability insurance
• Flexible spending accounts

How to apply

Interested applicants may submit their cover letter and resume online via our Careers Page. Incomplete applications will not be considered. No phone calls/emails, please. 

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Statement

Society for Neuroscience provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Please click here to apply.