John Plummer, Senior Editor at Nature Materials, explains his motivations for becoming an editor, and outlines the key skills needed to pursue a career at a scientific journal.
These include great curiosity about different areas of science. John notes that individual researchers look into specific problems in-depth, but as an editor you need to take a broad view and develop curiosity beyond a specific subject.
Editors develop great critical thinking skills in their role, as selecting papers for publication involves making a judgement on the merits of individual papers, particularly looking at authors' claims and ensuring they stand up.
We hope this short video provides some insight upon embarking on a career as a scientific editor.