Contract Developmental Editor (Biological and Hard Sciences)

At American Journal Experts (AJE), we help researchers successfully communicate their work through trusted author-oriented solutions to overcome the barriers to the manuscript preparation process. We are actively recruiting independent contractors with field-specific expertise to perform rigorous scientific edits on scholarly manuscripts originally written by non-native English speakers.

AJE provides a platform that allows qualified editing providers to support researchers from across the world. AJE's contract developmental editors can work remotely from anywhere in the US with a stable internet connection. They can select manuscripts based on their areas of expertise, and they are not obligated to accept jobs that are available on our platform. Developmental editing providers are compensated based on manuscript length.

The goal of a scientific edit is to help improve the presentation of scientific information, ensure that novel findings are conveyed in a coherent narrative, and tailor the manuscript to its intended audience.

What the work entails:

• Suggesting the inclusion of information needed to understand the study and its context, or suggesting that distracting or irrelevant information be deleted
• Ensuring the text is focused around a specific theme or aim
• Suggesting or revising the organization and transitions, introductory sentences, and concluding sentences to support a consistent and logical narrative
• Editing and suggestions to ensure engagement of the target audience
• Language editing to improve the readability of the text, with appropriate emphasis on key components and accurate use of field-specific terminology

How the work is accomplished:

A thorough Language Edit is performed, and many additional comments are inserted in the document to highlight issues that cannot be addressed with direct edits.

Requirements

To qualify as an independent contract developmental editor, applicants must:

• Have native English proficiency
• Possess a Master's, PhD or professional degree in a relevant field
• Have significant experience either working in or editing papers in a related field
• Have a documented current or former affiliation with an accredited, not-for-profit, college or university with selective admission policies and classes conducted primarily in English. An affiliation is defined as a degree, current enrollment, postdoctoral training, employment, or faculty appointment
• Be based in the United States (residents of countries outside of the United States as well as residents of California and Massachusetts are not eligible for this position)

The ideal applicant for this position would have had exposure to these fields and their literature. The candidates who have been most successful in the contract scientific editor role are autonomous, have editing experience and/or strong technical writing skills, and seek to make a positive impact on their field of expertise.

An essential requirement of this freelance role is the ability to partner with AI and automation, as most manuscripts will come pre-edited by automation tools developed in house. Checking these edits for accuracy and rejecting incorrect changes, in addition to making your own edits based on your expertise, are core expectations in this position.