Every publishing house has editors, but they deal with manuscripts differently. Some publishers have academic editors while others are staffed with professional editors who will read every submission and make an initial decision on whether to return or peer review your paper.
Professional manuscript editors at prestigious publishing houses are PhD scientists with research experience who happen to also enjoy writing and science communication. They are in-house experts in specific areas but are not experts in everything. Most have a broad overview of specific disciplines but may not necessarily be familiar with all the technical details of a paper. Therefore, when corresponding with editors, always aim for a high-level explanation first before going into the details.
Editors are friendly people. They want to publish good papers that end up with coverage in mainstream media. However, understand that they are a busy bunch. Besides reading and assessing manuscripts, they have many other responsibilities. They must write, edit, travel to conferences, give talks, visit labs, and keep up with everything in the literature. They must also deal with authors who behave poorly. Editors are humans and will have all the usual human characteristics. Treat them with respect.
Introduce yourself to the Editor.
Don’t be shy!
Besides manuscript editors, publishing houses have editorial assistants, copy editors, art editors, production editors and press officers who are there to help you bring your science onto the world stage.
Editorial assistants act as quality controllers and help you resolve any submission issues. Copy editors make sure your writing has flawless grammar and all the right punctuations in place. Art editors help you prepare publication quality figures while production editors lay out the content nicely on a page. Press officers work with manuscript editors to write press releases and with journalists to ensure your paper gets the attention it deserves.
