Skip to contentSkip to footer
  • Community
  • Jobs
  • Companies
  • Salaries
  • For employers
      Notifications

      Loading...

      Elevate your career

      Discover your earning potential, land dream jobs, and share work-life insights anonymously.

      employer cover photo
      employer logo
      employer logo

      Elsevier

      Part of RELX

      Engaged employer

      About
      Reviews
      Pay and benefits
      Jobs
      Interviews
      Interviews
      Related searches: Elsevier reviews | Elsevier jobs | Elsevier salaries | Elsevier benefits
      Elsevier interviewsElsevier Scientific Editor interviewsElsevier interview


      Glassdoor

      • About / Press
      • Awards
      • Blog
      • Research
      • Contact Us
      • Guides

      Employers

      • Free Employer Account
      • Employer Centre
      • Employers Blog

      Information

      • Help
      • Guidelines
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy and Ad Choices
      • Do Not Sell Or Share My Information
      • Cookie Consent Tool
      • Security

      Work With Us

      • Advertisers
      • Careers
      Download the App

      • Browse by:
      • Companies
      • Jobs
      • Locations
      • Communities
      • Recent posts

      Copyright © 2008-2026. Glassdoor LLC. "Glassdoor," "Worklife Pro," "Bowls" and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor LLC.

      Company Bowl sample

      Want the inside scoop on your own company?

      Check out your Company Bowl for anonymous work chats.

      Bowls

      Get actionable career advice tailored to you by joining more bowls.

      Followed companies

      Stay ahead in opportunities and insider tips by following your dream companies.

      Job searches

      Get personalised job recommendations and updates by starting your searches.

      Scientific Editor Interview

      13 May 2019
      Anonymous interview candidate
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 6 months. I interviewed at Elsevier

      Interview

      The process took over 6 months. I applied in August 2018 to be part of the iScience (Cell press) and had my first interview in December 2018. The first interview was with the recruiter from Elsevier. She asked me about my motivations about forwarded my answers to the Editor in Chief. After one week, she sent me a questionnaire and I had 1 week to complete it, although it was during the Christmas break. I had to answer the following questions: 1. From the articles published in iScience, please choose two papers you think are strong and two which you deem weak. Please discuss the reasons why you think they are strong/weak. 2. Please identify 5 papers that have been published in other journals within the past year that “could” have been published in our journal instead. Explain your reasons for choosing each paper. Who would you have picked as possible referees for each one? 3. As a scientific editor, commissioning review articles and perspectives will be a way of actively shaping the content of the journal. Imagine you have been asked to commission 5 reviews. Please indicate the general scientific areas you would want to target, the articles you would aim to commission, and who you would ask to write them. 4. Please pick 3 conferences you would want to promote the journal at. Please describe how you would structure your activity (before, during, and after the conference) in order to maximize journal exposure. 5. Interdisciplinarity is an important concept for the journal. What do you think is important for interdisciplinary research to succeed? How would you go about increasing the number of interdisciplinary papers published by the journal? Which areas would you target? 6. How do you envision the future of scientific publishing 10 years from now? Please keep your ideas brief and within half a printed page. One week later, I had an interview with the Editor in chief and the lead editor to discuss my motivations and the journal ( a lot of questions on open access). Two weeks after the second interview, I had another interview with the Editor in chief and the lead editor. They sent me two publications and one abstract. I had one hour to read them and decide if I would consider them for publications in iScience and why. They never got back to me. I sent several emails to ask them if they had had further thoughts about my candidacy but I never received any answer. The interview process took a lot of time and effort and I thought I deserved an email. As a researcher, I read many publications from Elsevier and thought it was a serious company. I opinion of Elsevier has strongly changed since this experience as I realised that they do not respect candidates.

      Interview questions [4]

      Question 1

      Why do you want to become an editor?
      Answer question

      Question 2

      What would you do if you did not understand something in a publication?
      Answer question

      Question 3

      Why is open access important?
      Answer question

      Question 4

      What are the problems engendered by open access?
      Answer question
      11
      avatar
      Elsevier response
      5y
      Thank you for taking the time to leave your review We apologise for your experience with us. Your feedback is very important as we are continuously working with the Recruitment team to ensure candidate experience is as seamless as possible as well as ensuring relevant and timely communication is provided at every stage of the process. We hope this experience does not deter you from applying to Elsevier in the future.

      Other Scientific Editor interview reviews for Elsevier

      Scientific Editor Interview

      20 Oct 2024
      Anonymous interview candidate
      London, England
      No offer
      Neutral experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Elsevier (London, England) in Aug 2024

      Interview

      It was a single-stage interview for a temporary position (4 months), lasting 1.5 hours. The first 30 minutes consisted of general interview questions, the next 30 minutes involved reading a manuscript, and the final 30 minutes were spent discussing the paper, my impressions, and evaluating whether it should be sent to reviewers.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Difficult situation and how did you overcome it?
      Answer question

      Scientific Editor Interview

      30 Dec 2021
      Anonymous employee
      London, England
      Accepted offer
      Positive experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied online. I interviewed at Elsevier (London, England) in Jul 2021

      Interview

      First interview was with team leads - He/ she will firstly talk you through the job. The interview process is really nice & calm. It feels like a conversation really. Consist of technical interview and behavioural but mostly behavioural interview. The interview went well! Then, the second stage is the interview with the publisher. Similar to the first interview but more specific to your niche

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Give me 5 words that your former boss would describe you as a person?
      1 Answer
      2

      Scientific Editor Interview

      16 Feb 2021
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Declined offer
      Positive experience
      Easy interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Elsevier in Feb 2021

      Interview

      15 minute phone interview on asking job particular. Second stage involves completing some assigned tasks in relation to scientific article literature review, concerning how these articles would enhance the journal.

      Interview questions [4]

      Question 1

      Why do you want to work for Elsevier?
      Answer question

      Question 2

      What are you salary expectations?
      Answer question

      Question 3

      Why do you want to be an Editor of a journal?
      Answer question

      Question 4

      What would be your preferred working environment?
      Answer question
      1
      avatar
      Elsevier response
      5y
      Thank you for your review.