Peer Review Associate

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Peer Review Associate based in India. This role offers the opportunity to support the end-to-end peer review process for academic journals in a structured, collaborative publishing environment. You will coordinate manuscript workflows from initial submission through acceptance and preparation for production. The position combines editorial operations, stakeholder communication, quality control, and workflow management. You will work closely with authors, reviewers, editors, and internal teams to keep submissions progressing efficiently and accurately. Strong organization and attention to detail will be essential for meeting service levels, publication standards, and deadlines. The role also provides opportunities to contribute to process improvements, reporting, and operational excellence. It is well suited to a detail-oriented professional who enjoys working with people, processes, and scholarly content. Review newly submitted manuscripts against journal submission guidelines and ensure they are ready to enter the peer review process. Manage manuscript workflows within the relevant tracking system, monitoring progress and ensuring timely movement through each stage. Invite, assign, and support peer reviewers while following up with authors, editors, and reviewers on outstanding actions and deadlines. Monitor manuscript status, identify workflow bottlenecks, and proactively resolve or escalate issues that could affect turnaround times. Verify that accepted manuscripts contain all required documentation and files, including author information, editable files, copyright permissions, contributor agreements, and appropriately formatted references. Coordinate the completion of electronic contributor agreements and transfer production-ready manuscripts to the Production team within established timelines. Serve as a key point of contact for authors, reviewers, editors, associate editors, and internal stakeholders, responding to queries professionally and within agreed service levels. Maintain email templates, journal configurations, workflow information, and operational data within the manuscript management system. Troubleshoot workflow and system-related issues and help ensure assigned journal sites follow global standards and operational best practices. Generate and analyze operational reports, maintain productivity trackers, and provide regular updates on journal status, overdue tasks, and performance. Support editorial colleagues by providing guidance on peer review processes and acting as an escalation point for process-related questions. Participate in departmental projects, process improvement initiatives, and special assignments while sharing ideas that improve efficiency, quality, and journal performance. Maintain strong performance against key measures including manuscript processing times, reviewer activity, turnaround times, SLA adherence, quality, productivity, and publishing compliance. Requirements Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Life Sciences, Publishing, Communications, or a related field. Experience in scholarly publishing, journal operations, content management, editorial support, or peer review processes is preferred. Familiarity with manuscript management platforms such as Sage Track, ScholarOne, Editorial Manager, or similar systems is advantageous. Knowledge of academic publishing standards and citation styles such as APA, Chicago, ASA, AMA, or CSE is desirable. Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interact professionally with a diverse range of stakeholders. Excellent attention to detail and a strong commitment to accuracy, quality, and compliance. Strong organizational and time-management abilities, with the capacity to manage multiple journals, priorities, and deadlines simultaneously. Analytical and problem-solving skills, with the abi