Trainee (Intern)

Biomed Central; Pune District; On-site; INR 300,000 - 460,000; Full time

Job summary

Cureus is seeking an Assistant Editor (Intern) to support journal editorial operations across Cureus journals. This role is ideal for Master’s or PhD-level candidates with strong subject knowledge, sound academic judgment, excellent written communication skills, and an interest in scholarly publishing.

The Assistant Editor (Intern) will support manuscript workflows from initial editorial assessment through peer review and final decision.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD-level candidates with strong subject knowledge and sound academic judgment
• Excellent written English and strong communication skills
• Ability to apply editorial policies accurately and consistently
• Experience assessing manuscripts across disciplines is desirable
• Familiarity with journal editorial workflows and manuscript tracking systems is beneficial
• Willingness to work independently and mentor others as required

Responsibilities

• Support manuscript workflows from initial editorial assessment through peer review and final decision
• Perform enhanced quality checks and suitability assessments to ensure manuscripts meet journal requirements
• Ensure accurate manuscript routing and timely communication with editors and authors
• Assist in inviting Editorial Board Members and coordinating with Handling Editors
• Support and mentor new team members where required

Skills

Manuscript assessment

Attention to detail

Time management

Excellent written English

Editorial policies

Collaboration

Education

Master's degree

Pursuing a PhD

PhD in Engineering, CS, Business & Economics, Agriculture or related

Job description

We are looking for Assistant Editor (Intern) to support journal editorial operations across Cureus journals. This role is ideal for Master s or PhD-level candidates with strong subject knowledge, sound academic judgment, excellent written communication skills, and an interest in scholarly publishing.

The Assistant Editor (Intern) will support manuscript workflows from initial editorial assessment through peer review and final decision. A key part of the role will involve performing enhanced quality checks, also referred to as suitability assessments, to ensure that submitted manuscripts meet journal requirements before editor assignment or peer review.

The role requires broad academic competence, strong attention to detail, excellent time management, and the ability to apply editorial policies accurately and consistently.

Key Responsibilities

The Assistant Editor (Intern) will support the journal pipeline and help ensure that manuscripts move efficiently and appropriately through the editorial process.

Responsibilities will include:

• Performing enhanced quality checks and suitability assessments on submitted manuscripts to confirm whether they meet journal requirements before editor assignment or peer review.
• Conducting a brief scientific and editorial assessment of articles to determine the appropriate route, such as proceeding to peer review, deferring for author-side editing, deferring for third-party editing support, or rejection where applicable.
• Ensuring accurate manuscript routing to prevent issues later in the publication process.
• Managing manuscripts from the Ready for Editorial stage through to final decision.
• Inviting Editorial Board Members to handle manuscripts or assigning submissions to appropriate Handling Editors.
• Supporting Handling Editors throughout the editorial process and building strong working relationships with them.
• Assessing Handling Editor recommendations and supporting the preparation and communication of final decisions to authors.
• Monitoring manuscript progress throughout peer review and providing timely support to help reach final decisions.
• Handling email correspondence with authors, reviewers, editors, guest editors, readers, and internal editorial colleagues.
• Collaborating with journal editorial staff to support continuous improvement, workflow updates, and new editorial initiatives.
• Providing input on process improvements to reduce turnaround time and improve pipeline management across different stages of the editorial workflow.
• Supporting and mentoring new team members where required.

Expectations

The successful candidates will be expected to:

• Assess manuscripts for scientific accuracy, editorial policy compliance, ethical considerations, and suitability for peer review.
• Apply journal-specific editorial criteria , formatting requirements, and style guidance consistently.
• Work within in-house online manuscript management systems to claim, assess, process, and track submissions.
• Communicate professionally and promptly with editors, editorial management, authors, and internal stakeholders.
• Manage multiple manuscripts simultaneously while meeting competing deadlines.
• Maintain high standards of accuracy, consistency, and professionalism in all editorial checks and correspondence .
• Demonstrate sound judgment when identifying manuscripts that may require further editorial intervention, language support, technical checks, or rejection.
• Contribute constructively to workflow improvements and team discussions.

Required Qualifications

• Master s degree , currently pursuing a PhD , or recently completed a PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, Business & Economics, Agriculture, or a closely related discipline.
• Strong academic literacy and ability to assess research manuscripts within the candidate s area of expertise.
• Ability to assess manuscripts across adjacent or interdisciplinary subject areas is desirable.
• Excellent written English and strong communication skills.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Meticulous attention to detail and a quality-focused approach to work.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and solve problems proactively.Ability to complete allocated tasks within agreed timelines, including under competing deadlines.
• Ability to work cooperatively with colleagues, editors, and stakeholders at all levels.
• Comfortable learning and working with new technology, including manuscript tracking systems and editorial workflow platforms.

Desirable Skills

• Previous experience with academic publishing, peer review, journal editorial workflows, manuscript assessment, or editorial board support.
• Familiarity with editorial policies, publication ethics, research integrity, plagiarism checks, authorship issues, and peer-review standards.
• Experience reviewing manuscripts, supporting journal operations, or working with academic editors.
• Ability to identify common manuscript issues related to scope, scientific validity, reporting quality, formatting, language, ethics statements, references, tables, and figures.
• Working knowledge of LaTeX typesetting and formatting.