Job Description | Graduate Student Editors, RR\ID

Rapid Reviews: COVID-19  is an open-access, rapid-review initiative of the MIT Press and UC Berkeley that was developed in June 2020 to accelerate peer review of COVID-19-related preprints covering the pandemic and its impacts. We rely on a two part process: 1) a student-supported review and curation process of current literature powered by AI tools and platforms 2) engaging expert peer review networks to produce reliable rapid peer reviews on newly released research that clinicians, researchers, journalists, and policy-makers worldwide can rely on to make sound judgements about disease priorities and amelioration. We create a shorter runway for open source peer-reviewed research produced in the wake of new findings. This helps accelerate productive academic, medical, and social science research on COVID-19 while reducing the likelihood of false and misleading scientific news being consumed by the public.

Based on the success of RR:C19, we are now launching the new spinoff journal Rapid Reviews\Infectious Diseases (RR\ID). RR\ID will allow us to expand beyond COVID-19 to advance the science community’s understanding of infectious diseases and emerging outbreaks. We are currently recruiting multiple Graduate Student Editors (GSE) to be placed in all three RR\ID domains who have specialized subject matter expertise related to infectious diseases to support our journal. Disciplines, within which are many sub disciplines, that are covered by RR\ID include:

• Public Health/Social Sciences and Humanities

• Medical Sciences

• Biological and Chemical Sciences/Physical Sciences and Engineering

Their area(s) of study and interest should be in areas within RR\ID disciplines (more here). The GSEs—we will hire multiple per domain—will provide guidance and subject matter expertise to Assistant Editors, the Editor-in-Chief, and other team members, including undergraduate apprentices.

Key duties

Graduate Student Editors will:

1) Serve as a sounding board to our Assistant and Associate Editors, in their identification and review of important preprints as they relate to the GSE’s areas of interest/expertise;

2) Aid in our identification and quality check of (and sometimes outreach to) peer reviewers regarding preprints we advance for review;

3) Attend editorial meetings to help advance discussion around the potential impact and evaluation of pitched preprints;

4) Help mentor undergraduate apprentices who we are training to critically read and assess research publications. 

Qualifications

These positions are ideally for doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows, MD/PhD students, and medical students in the fellowship portion of their studies. Masters students with significant experience in their field are also welcome to apply. Applicants should be comfortable with (and ideally enjoy) a frontline view of the latest research into emerging infectious diseases, and have an appreciation of how different disciplinary approaches within the domain may affect the wider global scientific, policy and social response to infectious diseases.

Requirements & Application instructions: We are asking for a time commitment of 2-3 hours a week. Given the minimal amount of time required, these positions are initially unpaid; however, compensation and a stipend will be considered when the GSE has begun actively and meaningfully contributing to RR\ID. To apply, please send a resume and a cover letter to Hildy Fong Baker ([email protected]).