On Being a Manuscript Editor in a Sanctioned Country

I was drawn to the field of manuscript editing, perhaps unknowingly, during my time working in a hospital laboratory in the United Kingdom, when I asked a colleague to comment on the email I had written. Her response was, “It’s grammatically correct, but that’s not how we’d write it.” At that moment, I realized that there was more to language than just grammar. Back in Iran, I completed an MSc degree and continued to work as a biomedical scientist in a laboratory. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I had the opportunity to work on some papers, which prompted me to consider a career transition to professional editing. I knew that my English skills, academic background, and even my detail-oriented personality were great fundamentals, but not enough to make me a professional editor. So, I began searching for editing resources and professional guidance, but local options were limited and not of a high level. This gap made me seek international advice on how to become a professional editor, which led me to discover the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS) and its certification. Once I started the process of applying for certification, including the eligibility assessment and taking the examination, my obstacles of living in a sanctioned country became apparent. Since international online transactions were not permitted, I was unable to complete the payment and had to ask a friend living abroad to make the payment on my behalf, which was inconvenient. Besides, I was under financial pressure for that […]