For more about the author’s workflow, see Author Submission Steps in Digital Commons.

Scenario 2: Editor uploads manuscript for author

To submit manuscripts on behalf of an author or the journal:

Whether manuscripts are submitted by authors or by the editors on behalf of authors, all submitted manuscripts appear in the “Not yet published” list on the Manage Submissions page until they are published, withdrawn, or rejected.

Journal editors will be notified via email when a manuscript is submitted and added to the “Not yet published” list.

Access Pending Submissions

To view pending submissions:

1. Navigate to the My Account page or use the Administrator Toolbar. See Log In and Access Editor Tools for complete steps.
2. Click Manage Submissions.
3. By default, the resulting screen displays the list of “Not yet published” manuscripts. The journal’s manuscripts can be filtered using the search features on the submission management screen.

The default columns in the table display the following information about each manuscript (left to right).

• ID: a unique number assigned to a manuscript upon submission
• Author: the author’s name
• Title: the title of the manuscript
• Last Event: the last action taken on the manuscript
• Date of Last Event: the date of the last action
• Waiting for Editor: Yes or No, indicating whether the manuscript is waiting for further action by the editor
• Locked by Editor: whether the manuscript is locked for editing
• Issue: the issue the manuscript is assigned to
• Editor: the assigned editor for the manuscript
• Submitted: the date the manuscript was submitted to the journal
• Initial Decision: when an initial decision is due if one has not been made yet, or how many days it took to make the decision once it has been made
• Reminder: any reminder that has been set for the manuscript using the Add reminder feature

Using the Table Preferences link above the table, editors can add and remove columns.

Access Records for Published, Rejected, or Withdrawn Manuscripts

To access published, rejected, or withdrawn manuscripts, go to the Manage Submissions page using the steps above. The page opens to the “Not yet published” list by default. Use the State drop-down menu (and other search fields) to filter the list and find the manuscript you want.

Work with Individual Manuscripts

Submission Details:

To work with a manuscript, click its title in the Manage Submissions list to view its Submission details page. This page displays details such as the last event to occur, the cover letter, and current version of the abstract and full-text. All of the commands for working with the manuscript are available in the left-hand sidebar of the manuscript’s Submission details page.

Tips:

• Click Preview submission to see how a published version of the manuscript information page will appear on the journal website.
• Click History to view major actions that have been taken for the manuscript by author, reviewer, editor, or Consulting Services.
• After opening other commands, you can return to the main view for the submission at any time by clicking Submission details in the left-hand sidebar.

View of manuscript sidebar options and commands:

Automatic conversion to PDF files:

Upon submission, manuscripts are automatically converted into PDF files. An email notification is sent to the journal editors, and if a specific turnaround time has been set for the journal, the clock for the editorial decision process begins.

The Submission details page will display a link to the downloadable PDF, along with the file size and conversion date. By default, a cover page will be generated when the manuscript is converted into a PDF.

To ensure author names are not revealed, check converted documents for any identifying information the submitter may have included before assigning the submission to reviewers.

Assign Editors to New Manuscripts (optional)

Use this option if the editorial staff wishes to assign editors to specific manuscripts.

To assign an editor to a manuscript:

1. From the Manage Submissions screen, click the title of the manuscript in the pending submissions list.
2. Click Assign editor in the left-hand sidebar of the resulting Submission details page.
3. A list of editor names will be displayed. Click the button next to the name of the editor who is to be responsible for this manuscript.
4. To include a comment with the assignment, enter it into the text box provided. This comment will only be visible to editors.
5. Click Assign. An email message will be sent to the newly assigned editor with notice of the assignment. Any comments will also be included in this email.

The manuscript will list “Editor assigned” as the Last Event, and the manuscript will show Yes in that editor’s Manage Submissions list. When a manuscript is assigned to an editor, all correspondence from the manuscript’s author(s) and reviewers will be directed to the assigned editor.

If you need to assign many submissions at once, ask Consulting Services about enabling the mass assign option.

Once editors have evaluated manuscripts and read the referee reports submitted during the peer review process, if applicable, it is time to register an editorial decision.

Registering a Decision on a Manuscript

The Register decision page for a journal submission:

To register a decision:

1. Navigate to the Submission details page and select Register decision in the left-hand sidebar.
2. Select the appropriate decision from the drop-down menu:
   
   
   • Accept Submission: Article is accepted for publication as is (i.e., no revisions necessary).
   • Accept Submission with minor revisions: Article is accepted for publication assuming the author makes minor revisions as requested by the editor. The requested revisions may be included either in the body of the acceptance message or in an attached file (such as a tracked-changes version of the native MS Word file). Minor revisions typically include formatting changes.
   • Major revisions required for acceptance: Article is not suitable for publication without major content revisions. The author is invited to make changes and submit a revision. Select this option if revisions may require another round of peer review; this is the only option that will allow for re-review and maintain double-blind status (see Peer Review Process for Journals for more details).
   • Reject Submission: Article is not worthy of publication in the journal. Rejected manuscripts are immediately removed from the “Not yet published” list on the Manage Submissions page. (Rejected manuscripts can always be found by filtering the Manage Submissions page to display manuscripts in the “Rejected” state.) If you need to reject many submissions at once, please contact Consulting Services.
3. If you do not want to email a decision letter, select the Do not email the decision letter checkbox and go to step 6. Otherwise, continue to step 4.
4. Modify the body of the decision letter. Be sure to include any important information regarding referee reports and/or suggested or required revisions. Reviewer(s) can be copied on this letter. Please be mindful of whether or not to share the author’s identity with the reviewer(s) in the body of the letter. If identities should not be shared, references to authors’ names in the body of the decision letters should be omitted or copies of decision letters should be withheld from reviewers. Note: for double-blind journals, the salutation is not sent to reviewers; authors’ names can safely be included in the salutation.
   
5. If additional files will be included in the decision email, click Choose File to locate and select the desired file. Click the Add button to upload multiple attachments. Click the corresponding Remove button to delete an attachment. It is not necessary to attach the full-text manuscript or referee reports to the decision letter—these will be available to the author through their account.
   
   Note: Do not delete the included ATTACHMENT_LINK placeholder in the text of the email when modifying the message. This text ensures that files are attached when the email is sent.
6. Click the Register decision button to formally register the editorial decision. Unless you selected Do not email the decision letter, this will send the letter as well.
7. Once a decision is registered, any referee reports will be made available to the authors (unless reports have been marked as hidden on the Reviewers page). This option can be disabled by contacting Consulting Services.

Accessing Editorial Decision Letters

To access a previously sent decision letter, navigate to the Submission details page, and choose the Decision letters link in the left-hand sidebar. This link will appear once a decision has been made on a manuscript.

All decision letters and attachments for that particular manuscript are archived on that page.

Revising Submissions

Edits to manuscripts may be requested and completed at any time during the publication process.

After a submission has been accepted or accepted with minor revisions as described above, editors can request additional revisions using the Request minor revisions command in the left-hand sidebar of the Submission details page. During the revision stage, authors may submit revisions to their manuscripts unless the manuscript is locked for editing. Once published, editors can still submit and publish revisions.

Requests for minor revision will be archived on the Decision letters page.

Author revisions:

Authors may revise submissions before publication by visiting their My Account page, clicking on the title of the submission, and clicking Revise submission on the resulting details page. There is a free-text field at the bottom of the revision form where authors are encouraged to notify the editor of the reason for the revision. If an author submits a new cover letter with a revision, it will display for editors beside the heading “Most recent cover letter” on the Submission details page. Previous cover letters are archived and will always be available on the View revisions page.

Lock a manuscript to prevent author revisions:

Prior to publication, manuscripts can be locked by editors to prevent unauthorized revisions by authors. To lock a manuscript, select Yes from the Locked by Editor drop-down option on the Submission details page. After locking a submission, authors will be able to view their manuscripts in process but will not be able to edit them. Editors can revise locked unpublished manuscripts.

Revising a submission as an editor:

Editors can revise any part of a submission before and after publication.

To make changes to a submission, click the Revise submission link in the left-hand sidebar of Submission details pages. Make the desired additions or changes on the revision form, and click Submit changes when finished. Editors may note the Reason for update before submitting the changes.

Selecting a Manuscript Version for Review and Publication

When manuscripts are not locked, authors can submit revisions prior to publication. Multiple versions of the manuscript may be available, but only the editor-selected version is under consideration during the review process. This ensures that all parties work with the current version of the manuscript.

Annotating Manuscripts: Editor Notes Feature

Digital Commons Journals provide a feature that allows the editor to annotate a manuscript for their own benefit: Editor notes. These notes will only be seen by editors and administrators of the publication who visit this page; notes will not be made visible if the article is published, nor will authors or reviewers ever have access to them. Only the most recent note appears on the details page; to view all past notes, click Editor notes.

To add an internal comment to a manuscript or view existing comments:

1. Navigate to the Submission details page.
2. Click Editor notes in the left-hand sidebar.
3. All previous editorial comments for the manuscript are listed here. Enter comments in the form and click Add note. Click Reset if you want to clear all text from your current comment and start over.

Re-Review After Revisions

When editors register a decision of Major revisions required for a manuscript, it can be sent out for a second round of peer review, or re-review. Other editorial decisions will bring the peer review process to a close.  For more information, please see Peer Review Process for Journals.