Editorial Workflow: Summary
As an Editorial Fellow, you are automatically a member of the Editorial College, whose detailed functioning is explained in the by-laws. These include a detailed description of the Submissions handling process, of which this is a quick summary.
Some other important information is to be found in the Journals Terms and Conditions.
Scroll to the bottom to see a graphical representation of the editorial workflow.
The Submissions Pool
At any moment, you can peruse the Submissions Pool in order to view the status of all Submissions currently undergoing peer review in SciPost. Only members of the Editorial College and Editorial Administrators have access to this page.
Becoming Editor-in-charge of a Submission
You can become Editor-in-charge of a Submission by either:
- accepting an assignment request (emailed to you by an Editorial Administrator)
- volunteering directly from the Submissions Pool.
Your tasks as an Editor-in-charge of a particular Submission
Once you become Editor-in-charge of a Submission, you gain access to this Submission's Editorial Page, containing all you need to run the editorial process. The online tools at your disposal are meant to make your work as Editor-in-charge as simple and rapid as possible. They allow you to:
- Invite referees
- Communicate with authors, referees and Editorial Administrators
- Open/extend/close refereeing rounds
- Formulate your Editorial Recommendation.
Here is a step-by-step guide to the process (when appropriate, you will receive emails containing relevant information and notifying you of any pending tasks):
- Upon becoming Editor-in-charge, please invite at least 3 referees
- If any referee declines to review, please invite a replacement
- If a referee does not respond after 3 days, please send a reminder (one-click)
- If needed, extend the refereeing round (one-click)
- When reports come in, please vet them
- Once reports have been gathered, close the refereeing round (one-click)
- Based on the delivered Reports and Comments, formulate your Editorial Recommendation.
After you have formulated and sent your Editorial Recommendation, your tasks are fulfilled.
If and when the paper is resubmitted (after minor or major modifications), the process starts again with you as Editor-in-charge (you can start a new refereeing round if needed, or immediately formulate a new Editorial Recommendation).
If your Editorial Recommendation is for minor or major modification of the paper, it is forwarded directly to the authors. If it is to accept or reject the paper, it is forwarded to the Editorial College for ratification.
From this point onwards, the process is carried further by the Editorial Administrators.
The Editorial College
The binding decision on publication or rejection is taken by the Editorial College. Fellows receive a communication by email from the Editorial Administrators, asking for ratification of submitted Editorial Recommendations. Acceptance of the Editor-in-charge's recommendation is tacitly assumed when no response is received.
Production of the published version (version of record)
Post-acceptance, the paper is handled by the production team, who produce the final version and publish it in the relevant Journal. As an Editorial Fellow, you carry no responsibility for any of these tasks.
Commitment
Your involvement in the Editorial College is greatly valued, and we understand that your time is precious. A normal workload would be to handle a handful of Submissions in any calendar year. This should represent on average two to four hours of work per month.