KGL Editorial Team

Cara co-founded Kaufman Wills Fusting & Company in 2000 and served as the Managing Director until Company’s acquisition by KGL in 2021. Cara continues to lead the team offering consulting, peer review, association management, and other society services. She works alongside extraordinary staff to ensure that the organization anticipates and remains responsive to changes in the market and continually meets and exceeds the expectations of our esteemed clients. Earlier in her career, Cara held management, editorial, and marketing positions with commercial and association publishers. Cara received a BA in English with high honors from Carleton College and an MBA in marketing and market research from DePaul University.

As the head of KGL Editorial, Alex works with our esteemed customers and talented staff to create editorial solutions that achieve their goals and exceed their expectations. She participates extensively in professional societies and leads outward-facing communications for the company, making sure they uphold our reputation for excellence. Alex has held progressively responsible positions within KGL Editorial for the past decade, providing leadership in remote workforce management, team development, process improvement, and workflow efficiency. She also developed our single and multi-journal KGL Editorial Dashboards, supporting efficient task management tailored to each client’s needs and enabling at-a-glance oversight ensuring the highest level of service to every customer. Prior to joining KGL Editorial, Alex managed professional development for science educators, and began her career at the National Institutes of Health as a Howard Hughes Research Fellow studying microbial genetics. She holds a BS with honors in cell biology and molecular genetics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Dan brings more than 25 years of experience in publishing, primarily on STEM journals. He has significant experience working with society partners to improve operational performance through the review and application of best practice to workflows and associated documentation. Prior to joining KGL Editorial, Dan’s roles have included Editorial Services Manager for a global think tank, Managing Editor for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and Head of Publishing for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. As Publisher for Life Science Journals at Cambridge University Press Dan led multidisciplinary teams to nurture and develop relationships with society partners and editors for the growth of their journals. Dan obtained a BA with Honors in Spanish and French from the University of Hull; he lives in and works from Cambridge, England.

Michelle provides daily management for several client journals. Working closely with the editors, publishers, and society leadership, Michelle achieves goals tailored to each journal’s needs. She is adept at streamlining workflows for greater efficiency, as well as monitoring journal performance to ensure competitive journal turnaround times to increase author, reviewer, and editor satisfaction. She is an experienced user of Editorial Manager, eJournalPress, and Scholar One manuscript systems. Michelle’s 20+ years of scholarly publishing experience includes 12 years with the American Heart Association. She holds a BA from Towson University and a copyediting certificate from UCSD Extension.

Amy King is senior managing editor at KGL Editorial. She has over 13 years of editorial experience in the publishing industry and serves as co-chair of the Council of Science Editors (CSE) marketing committee and as a member of the CSE Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and Professional Development committees. She actively attends DEIA workshops and courses through CSE and is part of DEIA efforts in scholarly publishing. Her interests and skills include best practice, ethics in publishing, marketing and promotions, and content development and strategy. She is actively working towards her CSE Certificate in Publishing.

Beth is a seasoned professional with more than 20 years of scholarly publishing experience working with society publications to manage submission and peer review workflows. She is the long-time managing editor of several of our client journals, overseeing all editorial process from submission through issue compilation. Beth has led the journals that she supports through editor-in-chief transitions, trained multiple associate editors, and developed formal workflow documentation and reporting. She is a ScholarOne power user and has done workflow and configuration analyses for several KGL Editorial clients. Prior to joining KGL Editorial, Beth worked at PBS, and was as an editorial assistant at the American Geophysical Union. She holds a BA in English from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Katie brings our KGL customers more than 15 years of scholarly publishing experience in managing submission, peer review, and publication workflows, developing staff, and improving processes. She is also an expert user of Editorial Manager, eJournalPress, and Scholar One and has been involved in publisher and content management system transitions as well as assisting in the launch of open access journals and onboarding of editorial staff.

Katie has rich experience in process and protocol review including the creation and implementation of ethical and data deposition policies and procedures, has experience as a DEI committee member, set up functionality for reviewer CME/CE for society journals, and specializes in the management of social media initiatives focusing on strategic development to establish an impactful marketing tool using social media. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Assumption College and a master’s degree in writing, literature, and publishing from Emerson College.

Mary plays an essential role on the KGL Editorial team, providing the highest level of editorial services. In collaboration with our staff, she ensures that client work moves through established processes while seeking to drive further efficiency, quality, and cost-effectiveness. For over two decades, Mary has worked in partnership with editors, editorial boards, publishers, and academic societies in a variety of fields. She has successfully overseen new journal launches, the smooth transition of editors and publishers, publication schedules with improved turn times and greater issue frequency, and rising Impact Factors. She enjoys sharing her wealth of knowledge and has facilitated and presented at several professional conferences.

Mary holds a BA with honors in English/writing arts from State University of New York, College at Oswego and an MFA in Creative Writing from The City College of New York. As an adjunct professor, she taught Writing for the Sciences and freshman composition, for which she received the Outstanding Teacher Award.

Carrie provides leadership to editorial associates dedicated to supporting a range of high-volume editorial and production workflows, including editor assignment, reviewer database build up, editor support, and editorial manuscript management. Carrie analyzes task data and conducts regular work assessments to ensure that each team delivers exceptional efficiency to multiple KGL clients while providing thorough, high-quality work. During her decade in scholarly publishing, Carrie has partnered with clients to optimize workflows for both high-volume tasks and for a variety of specialty manuscript types such as clinical trials, transfers, resubmissions, and reassignments. Carrie is an expert user of Editorial Manager, eJournalPress, and ScholarOne manuscript systems, making her adept at forensic evaluation of technical issues and submission history. Prior to joining KGL Editorial, Carrie worked as a project coordinator in the IT staffing field for several years, where she specialized in assessing and procuring the resources needed for technical short-term projects.

Victoria brings a decade of scholarly publishing experience working on society publications to manage submission, peer review, and production workflows. Her expertise includes ensuring that manuscripts comply with all journal requirements and managing the work of editors, authors, and reviewers to meet editorial timelines and ensure speedy publication of content. She has served as right-hand to the editors-in-chief for several journals, managing special issues and supporting the editorial board while providing oversight of peer review staff and implementing process improvements.

Prior to joining KGL Editorial, Victoria served as both a copyeditor and production editor, and as a project manager overseeing the production of an 80-book symposium series for a large society. Victoria holds a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in journalism from University of Delaware.

Jane brings more than 20 years of experience as a managing editor, supervising all aspects of editorial and production for print and digital medical society publications. Jane has extensive experience in supporting the publishing goals of editorial boards as well as in developing new initiatives, managing editorial development and peer-review workflows, medical editing and proofreading, data analysis, and digital publishing. Jane holds a BA in English and writing and a master’s degree in education from the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Christi is an Associate Managing Editor with KGL Editorial who has been working in scholarly publishing since 2006. For multiple KGL clients, she provides direct editor-in-chief support and management of the peer review process. Christi has extensive knowledge of Scholar One and Editorial Manager. In addition, Christi has been trained in digital image manipulation and Scholar One Configuration Center. Christi holds a BS in Marketing from Liberty University.

Janet has been in scholarly publishing for more than 25 years, with broad experience ranging from submission to issue compilation. She works closely with her customer stakeholder’s various editorial and production workflows. Janet oversees a team of editorial associates handling a range of tasks including complex XML corrections, technical inbox monitoring, and submission and peer review oversight. In addition, she handles annual journal status reports and an annual masthead review and update for scores of journals. As a journal managing editor, she has developed and improved the production workflow to streamline tasks. Janet has advanced knowledge of JATS XML, LaTeX, and several manuscript tracking systems.

Allison has been in scholarly publishing field for over 13 years, providing editorial support for several high-impact, high-volume journals. She is proficient as a user and administrator of ScholarOne, with a focus on increasing the efficiency of the peer review process. Allison holds a BSJ from Northwestern University.

Jamie has over a decade’s worth of experience in scholarly publishing and has worked in a number of capacities, from handling quality control duties through peer review tasks to pre-production checks. He currently manages several journals with complex workflows and works to streamline processes for maximum efficiency while communicating clearly with clients. He is an expert eJournalPress platform user and has extensive experience with Editorial Manager. Prior to joining KGL Editorial, Jamie worked for Springer Nature as well as the American Association for Cancer Research. Jamie holds a BA in English from the University of Virginia.

Gita has been working in scholarly publishing since 2016.  She brings with her 13 years of prior experience in biomedical research, biotech patent law, and grant administration.  Currently, Gita supports all aspects of the peer review process. She works very closely with her editors-in-chief, editorial board members, reviewers, authors, and client, helping to troubleshoot and streamline journal processes.  She assists in developing and maintaining protocols, providing training to new team members, and overseeing staff performance to best serve the client and facilitate growth.  She is a proficient user of Editorial Manager and ScholarOne, and also has experience with ScholarOne’s Cognos Reporting features.  Gita has a B.S in Microbiology from Iowa State University and has completed all graduate coursework toward an M.S in Biomedical Sciences with Hood College.

Kathryn supervises associates who provide individualized support to academic editors, reviewers, and authors. As a process-oriented managing editor, she works closely with editors-in-chief and publishers to realize a journal’s strategic goals. She excels at refining protocols by standardizing communications and eliminating redundancies. In addition, Kathryn has significant expertise in investigating allegations of digital image manipulation and plagiarism. She is an expert user of the eJournalPress and ScholarOne manuscript management platforms and has over a decade of experience in scholarly publishing, including nine years at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). She holds a BFA in writing, literature, and publishing from Emerson College and an MFA in Creative Writing from American University.

Karen manages several high-volume journals, providing editorial support to clients, editors, reviewers, and authors, and overseeing a staff of editorial associates. Karen is responsible for training new editors, and she has prepared formal workflow documentation and reporting for KGL journals. She has over 20 years of experience in scholarly publishing, with experience in both editorial and production workflows, and proficiency as a user of eJournalPress, ScholarOne, and Editorial Managers. Karen holds a BA in Retail Management from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science.

Melissa joined KGL September 2021 after being with Cenveo for 30 years. Her various roles in production included 7 years as a Journal Production Manager for ASM, ASME, ASCE, EPH, Stem Cells, SCTM, Wiley, and Elsevier, in addition to training others in journal management. Prior to her production roles, she was an IT Analyst/ML Support Specialist working with Perl, Unix, and Photoshop; prior to that, was responsible for TeX/LaTex conversions and troubleshooting. She brings valuable skills to her team, including webinar training, project management, debugging conversion problems, and Oxygen XML editing; she is also a Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Expert. Melissa lives in Stoudtburg Village in the heart of antique alley in Adamstown, PA. She has 3 adult sons, one adorable grandson and 9 dogs. Most weekends are spent at dog shows or riding her Harley, antiquing, thrifting to flip, and treasure hunting at auctions.

Dan brings more than 20 years of experience in scholarly and trade publishing as a seasoned editor, production designer, and desktop publishing professional. He recently joined KGL Editorial, following a year with KGL’s Production division in which he oversaw the online and print production workflows of 18 multi-disciplinary STM peer-reviewed journals for one of the company’s prominent client accounts. Dan brings the highest level of accuracy and efficiency to his daily work for KGL Editorial, providing essential editorial support services on several high-volume client accounts, including routine client and author communications, tracking peer-review paper submissions across both ScholarOne and Editorial Manager content management systems, and performing pre-production quality control checks of new and revised submissions, as well as proofreading ahead-of-print articles and monthly journal issue publications.

Prior to joining KGL, Dan served in editorial management and production designer roles for a variety of high profile scholarly journals, university presses, and trade publishing houses. He has contributed to the editorial development and production of more than 400 books and related online and published print content of varying complexity, length, and style. Dan holds a BA in Literary Studies and Creative Writing from Beloit College in Wisconsin.

Kayla has been providing editorial support to editors, reviewers, and authors since 2018, and she is a proficient user of ScholarOne and Editorial Manager. She has experience in various aspects of editorial support including submission checks, creating reports and data collection, and training other support staff. Prior to joining KGL Editorial, Kayla worked as an editorial assistant for The Journal of Literacy Research. Kayla graduated from Heidelberg University with a BA in English and Psychology with Departmental Honors in Psychology. She also holds a Master’s in English Literature and a Graduate Certificate in Rhetoric and Composition from The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Abigail is an Associate Managing Editor with KGL Editorial who has been working in scholarly publishing since 2017. For multiple KGL clients, she provides direct editor-in-chief support and management of the peer review process. Abigail has extensive knowledge of Scholar One and Editorial Manager. A few of her contributions to the KGL editorial team include training new editorial associates, designing quality control documentation, and aiding in onboarding new clients. Abigail has been in the science field since graduating in 2008 with her Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry. Her adaptability and academic background have made her an asset to the KGL editorial team.

Alyssa has been working in the field of scholarly publishing since 2018, primarily in quality control and peer review. She works to bridge the gap between editors, authors, and reviewers to keep the peer review process running smoothly while ensuring manuscripts meet submission guidelines. She is proficient in both ScholarOne and eJournal Press, and regularly handles high-volume editor support. Prior to her work in scholarly publishing, Alyssa was an archaeological field technician. She holds a BS in Anthropology with a concentration in Archaeology, as well as a BA in History from Binghamton University.

Steve joined the KGL team in 2023. He specializes in working with clients who publish multiple journals. Steve is experienced in improving efficiency and uniformity across titles. He is eager to find solutions that fit each organization’s needs and is happy to provide the data to make an informed decision.  As a former science journalist, Steve works to ensure his team is both accurate and on deadline. Steve holds a BA in English literature from Washington University in St. Louis.

With 20 years of experience in scholarly publishing, Michelle has a wide range of experience from the review process through production that benefits the journals she supports. She oversees the workflow for multiple journals, managing and working with a team of editorial associates to meet and exceed client expectations. Michelle has improved editorial and production protocols and workflows, created style manuals, and maintained Editorial Board records and reports. Prior to working for KGL Editorial, Michelle worked for the American Association for Cancer Research for several years. There, among other accomplishments, she managed the launch, review process, and production of a successful cancer therapeutics journal. Michelle holds a BA in English/professional writing from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

Beverly Lindeen has over 25 years’ experience in scholarly publishing, with a majority of her career spent in various roles at Allen Press, ultimately serving as a Senior Managing Editor of Editorial Services. She has managed both medical and scientific titles, helping them with not only their peer review and production needs, but also advising on best practices in those areas. Beverly has been copyediting at various levels, from light grammar checks to in-depth substantive editing, for more than 15 years. Her loves of grammar and science serve her well in her current role as Substantive Editor. Beverly holds a BA in English from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, as well as Board certification as Editor in the Life Sciences from the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences.

A consummate professional, Angie has over 8 years of experience working at every level of the peer review process. She manages several journals and prioritizes client satisfaction and efficiency. She is highly proficient in Editorial Manager, ScholarOne, and eJournalPress. She graduated from George Washington University, with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biology. During her earlier career, Angie was a patent agent for a Washington DC law firm, and then worked as a Transactional Legal Analyst for a private company in Bethesda.

Kim has been working in scholarly publishing since 2014. She works closely with editors-in-chief, providing extensive support in all aspects of the editorial process, from intake and production workflows to organizing special issues, creating covers and journal marketing items. Kim is a proficient user and administrator of ScholarOne and Editorial Manager and is experienced with Photoshop and video editing programs to provide journals with high-quality final figures and videos. She has supported journals during EiC transitions and is highly experienced with editor onboarding. Kim comes from a 20-year background of customer service and provides excellent support to editors, reviewers, and authors for multiple journals.

Clarissa brings 10 years of experience as a writer, teacher, and editor to her clients. She has been working in scholarly publishing since 2018, providing editorial and production support for customers with high-volume, high-quality workflows in several STEM fields. Proficient as a user and administrator of ScholarOne, Editorial Manager, and eJournalPress manuscript systems, Clarissa has extensive experience with increasing the efficiency of the peer review process. Clarissa has earned a B.Mus from Boston University and an MFA in Creative Writing from North Carolina State University. She has presented her scholarly work at conferences in the humanities and has also published several short stories.

Lovie leads teams of editorial associates that provide personalized editorial support throughout the peer-review process of scientific publications.  She works closely with both internal and client-side leadership to optimize the editorial workflow for authors, reviewers, and editors.  As a published author of cybersecurity content for the U.S. Department of Energy and The International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Lovie understands the publication process from a multi-faceted perspective. Prior to joining KGL Editorial, Lovie worked as a Technical Writer and Editor for the Strategic Security Sciences Division at Argonne National Laboratory.  She graduated Summa Cum Laude from The University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign with a B.A. in Linguistics.

Susan supervises a team of associates who manage a multi-journal society’s peer review process and support the editors, reviewers, and authors. Susan led a smooth transition when client work doubled, providing careful oversight of both the process and the training of new associates. She is highly proficient with Editorial Manager and ScholarOne Manuscripts. Susan has over 5 years scholarly publishing experience, prior to which she worked in the counseling field. Susan graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Rochester with a BA in History and Psychology, as well as a MS in Counseling Psychology.

Theresa has 5 years of experience in scholarly publishing, spanning both editorial and production workflows, and is a proficient user of Editorial Manager, ScholarOne Manuscripts, and eJournal Press. For multiple journals, she determines whether manuscripts adhere to journal policy and meet peer review requirements and ethical standards. She regularly interacts with publishers, editors, authors, and reviewers, and lends critical support to these collaborators through the stages of the publication process. Theresa is an academically trained researcher with a BS in Microbiology, MS in Molecular and Cell Biology, and a PhD in Global Health/Pathobiology.

Cameron Schell joined KGL in July 2022. Over the course of which he has honed his skills in handling initial and revised quality checks, transmission to publisher, and proofing. He is proficient user of eJournal Press and Editorial Manager, and he has experience with Scholar One. He holds a BA and MA in English from the University of Colorado, Boulder and is currently completing his PhD in English at Northwestern University.

John started his career in scholarly publishing in 2002 and has since developed expertise in supporting a range of journals, publishers and societies. He has worked with a variety of media, including monographs and textbooks, and in numerous academic fields. He works closely with authors, editors and reviewers to maintain quality and reach schedule milestones.  He is an experienced user of Editorial Manager, ScholarOne and other digital platforms. John spent two years on a professional assignment in Chennai, India, training staff in all aspects of composition, editorial and production tasks. He holds an MA in theology from Bangor Theoretical Seminary, and a BA in English and philosophy from the University of Southern Maine.

Nicola has worked in journal publishing since 2012 and has experience in every aspect of the peer review process, from initial submissions through final author proofs. She is an experienced user of Editorial Manger, ScholarOne, and eJournal Press. Nicola joined KGL Editorial in 2018 and was promoted to Associate Managing Editor in 2021. Nicola grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and spent several years in Britain before moving to Houston, where she completed a BA in English at the University of Houston.

Carla Tellez has more than 7 years of experience in the scholarly publishing industry. One of those years was spent working as a Project Manager for eJournalPress, where she worked behind the scenes on submission sites to ensure an optimal author and client experience. At KGL, Carla continues to strive for positive author experiences at high-volume journals. She has experience handling a wide range of tasks including inbox monitoring as well as peer review and production workflows in all major submission systems. Carla holds a BS in Humanities from the University of Maryland, University College

Larissa has over 20 years of experience in scholarly publishing. She provides editorial support for several journals and, works closely with visionary editors to achieve journal goals. Prior to joining KGL Editorial, Larissa was the coordinating editor for a high-impact chemistry journal, where she directly supported the editor-in-chief. Larissa has extensive experience in the peer-review process and excels at evaluating editorial workflows and monitoring manuscripts for compliance with journal standards. She is a skilled problem-solver who works well with fast-paced and high-volume journals. Larissa holds a BS in Psychology from John Carroll University.

Working closely with editors-in-chief, Stacie manages all aspects of the peer review process, single topic issues, and issue line-up for society journals, as well as having responsibility for the journal social media content creation and outreach initiatives. Stacie interfaces with society publishers with respect to journal print and online production activities. She is an expert user of ScholarOne Manuscript Central and Editorial Manager. Stacie has over 25 years’ experience in STEM publishing, including as the editor-in-chief for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD) and Managing Editor for Proteins: Structure, Function and Bioinformatics. She earned dual BS degrees in marine biology/marine chemistry from Southampton College of Long Island University and a PhD in biophysics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Lisa leads the business management team as Business Operations Manager for KGL Consulting and KGL Editorial. In this position, she is responsible for talent acquisition, employee on boarding and development, employee payroll, client invoicing, and benefits management. Lisa also manages the contracts and communications with the companies’ service providers: technology, legal, insurance, accounting, payroll, banking, and project management. Lisa joined KGL in 2015 previously working in business administration roles for 15 years. Lisa received a BS in Business Management/Human Resource Management from Towson University.

Mike leads KGL’s and previously Sheridan’s product management team and is responsible for managing existing technology-based products and services, identifying and developing new technology products and services, and establishing value-added business alliances with technology partners. Prior to KGL, Mike was with Sheridan since 1994 and has held a variety of operational management and technology leadership positions within the organization. He has focused much of his 25+ year career on the development of technology solutions and XML-based publishing workflows but has spent a great deal of time working directly with customers on designing workflow solutions that help them to achieve their publishing goals.