Applied Microbiology International’s first ever cohort of Junior Editors completed their two-year training programme on August 31 - and have passed with flying colours.
The initiative offered training and development opportunities for 14 early career scientists who were selected from more than 100 applicants to work on AMI’s flagship journal Letters in Applied Microbiology (LAM) by the Editor-in-Chief Dr Marcela Hernández.
READ MORE: ‘It’s been an eye-opener’: Thomas Thompson on his year as a Junior Editor
The Junior Editors are celebrating their achievements in completing the training course just as AMI prepares to select the next cohort of Junior Editors and Reviewers.
Diverse cohort
The 14 Junior Editors hailed from around the globe and represented a wide variety of microbiology disciplines. They were offered the opportunity to work with LAM’s Senior Editors as mentors for two years to learn how to handle papers through all stages of the peer review process, while upholding high ethical standards and striving to give all authors the best experience in their interactions with the journal.
Sanjana Mukarjee said it had been an absolute joy working alongside the LAM team for the past two years, adding: “I cannot thank you all enough for organizing this programme! As an early career scientist, such opportunities to learn the ins and outs of the Editorial Board process are very scarce and I deeply appreciate LAM being a trailblazer in setting up such an excellent program for junior scientists.
“Over the past two years, I have seen a stark improvement in my ability to judge manuscripts and I have become more confident in providing my scientific opinion.”
Wonderful learning experience
Junior Editor Audrey Addablah commented: “It has been a wonderful learning experience and I’m grateful for the support and guidance I’ve received throughout.”
Vuong Le said it had been a great experience to work as a junior editor for LAM.
“While the academic publishing system is currently perceived as broken, LAM clearly inclines to the positive side of the industry. I believe that LAM will continue to grow as a favourite house for high-quality rigorous research especially from early-career researchers from different parts of the world,” he added.
Delveen Ibrahim said the experience has been extremely beneficial and had significantly contributed to developing her editorial skills.
“Everyone I had the chance to work with was incredibly helpful and supportive. I especially appreciate all the guidance and encouragement I received from Charlene—her support made a real difference. I would also like to sincerely thank Polona for her continuous and unlimited support throughout my training,” she said.
Guidance and mentorship
Meanwhile, Romy Moukarzel said it had been a pleasure to be part of such a talented and supportive team.
“I am very grateful for the guidance and mentorship provided throughout this journey. Prof. Khaled, thank you for your kind feedback and continuous support. Your mentorship, thoughtful advice, and willingness to explain and clarify at every step made a lasting impression. It has been an absolute pleasure working with you,” she said.
The news comes as recruitment closes for the next cohort of Junior Editors in the programme on September 18.
Kathryn Spiller, Director of Publishing at AMI, said ‘We are delighted with the outcomes of the first training programme. The Junior Editors have been outstanding and it has been wonderful to see their progress.
”We were particularly happy to offer them all the opportunity to attend a face-to-face editorial board meeting held at the LAM ECS symposium, where many of them took the opportunity to submit an abstract, resulting in the first international session of ECR talks at the symposium. We are looking forward to improving the programme for the second cohort.”
Established in 1985, LAM is owned by AMI. The journal is hybrid and publishes research and reviews in the broad field of applied microbiology.
LAM is published with our publishing partner, Oxford University Press, under the editorial leadership of Dr Marcela Hernández, Editor-in-Chief.
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