Associate Editor, Physical Review Letters 

Who we are:

The American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance physics by fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and global community dedicated to science and society. APS represents more than 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and around the world.
 

Position Summary:

Physical Review Letters (PRL) is the world’s premier physics letter journal and the American Physical Society’s (APS) flagship publication. Since 1958 PRL has contributed to the APS mission to advance physics by publishing many of the key results, including dozens of which led to Nobel prizes.

Would you like to join our close-knit team of editors running the world’s premier physics Letters journal? As an Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters, you would handle all phases of the peer review process and ultimately decide which papers we publish. For this important work, we seek a dynamic and personable individual with a strong scientific background in one or more of these areas: gravitation, astrophysics, and cosmology.

Our editors stay engaged with the physics community and abreast of the latest research by attending meetings and visiting research institutions around the world. In addition, editors participate in various editorial initiatives and cross-departmental APS projects.

No editorial experience is required, though we do expect familiarity with the review process as an author and referee. We will train you to develop the editorial skills needed to be part of our team. Candidates with considerable editorial experience in handling manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals, and demonstrated impact in that role, may qualify for a senior position.

APS has a “remote first” concept that promotes equal treatment and equal access within the United States, independent of physical work location, with a majority of staff working primarily from remote work locations. APS values diversity and welcomes candidates from a variety of backgrounds. APS offers a dynamic work environment with an outstanding total compensation package, including salary, outstanding benefits, and excellent paid time off.

Responsibilities:

• Manage all aspects of peer review for a suite of manuscripts. This includes determining if review is warranted, selecting referees, evaluating responses, and deciding whether to publish.

• Maintain close contact with the other PRL editors and with the editors of other journals in the Physical Review portfolio.

• Help select and briefly summarize papers to highlight.

• Keep up with current and emerging physics research, and communicate such information with editors across the portfolio.

• Support the manuscript post acceptance process, as needed, including the acquisition of editorial summaries and images and the resolution of production issues.

• Perform editorial checks to ensure the overall quality and timeliness of published papers.

• Maintain high ethical standards and fairness at all editorial stages, ensuring that decisions align with editorial policy and practice.

• Gain mastery of the peer-review management system.

• Represent the journals and APS at scientific conferences.

• Actively engage and develop strong relationships and trust with a broad network of researchers.

• Contribute to journal-level projects and strategy, such as content commissioning, social media, organizing outreach events, and data analytics.

• Actively contribute to ensuring the journals are diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

Education: 

• A PhD and postdoctoral experience in one or more of these areas: gravitation, astrophysics, and cosmology. PRL covers all areas of physics research, so we seek those with a broad background and outlook.

Experience, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• A minimum of one year of postdoctoral experience.

• Excellent knowledge of the science and literature in their field.

• Familiarity with existing research groups in that area.

• Strong sense of integrity.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

• Ability to make prompt independent evaluations and decisions.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities.

• Strong written and verbal English communication skills.

• Excellent attention to detail.

• Ability to work well both alone and as part of a team.