When one Editor is assigned to a submission and then assigns another Editor, that second Editor is a Subordinate Editor in the workflow. The last assigned Editor who has not yet made a decision is the current Handling Editor, and usually is responsible for inviting and managing the reviews.

To allow you to oversee papers you've assigned to another Editor, Editorial Manager (EM) displays those submissions within your Editor Menu. Alternatively, Editors may use Editor reminder Reports or search Submissions to find submissions pending with other Editors.

How?

• Any pending submissions assigned to you, which you then assigned to another Editor, can be found in your main menu under the heading Subordinate Editor's Pending Assignments. These three folders sort the same submissions in different ways.

  • Group by Editors I Assigned displays submissions grouped by the name of the Subordinate Editor assigned by the user. The Editor listed may not be the current handling Editor, i.e., the submission may have been assigned on to another Editor by the listed Subordinate Editor.
  • Group by Editor with Current Responsibility displays submissions grouped by Subordinate Editors currently handling the submission. The Editor listed may not be the Editor who was assigned by the user, i.e., the submission may have been assigned to an initial Subordinate Editor who then passed the assignment on to the listed Subordinate Editor.
  • Group by Manuscript Status displays submissions that are assigned to Subordinate Editors, grouped by status.
• From these folders you can take most actions that you could if you had not assigned a Subordinate.

  • Assign Editor is not available to you after assigning to a Subordinate. The last assigned Editor is the only one who may be able to assign the next, see How do I assign an Editor?.
• In particular when managing other Editors you may need these actions:

  • Invite Reviewers appears when the status allows for reviewer invitation, and opens the Reviewer selection summary. See How can I view invited reviewers?.
  • Submit Editor's Decision and Comments will only be available from these folders if you have permission to terminate assignments while making a decision. If you do this, all open Subordinate Editors and pending reviews will be terminated. See How do I make a decision?.
  • Unassign Editor will be available if you have permission; you may have some limitations on which Editors you can remove or replace from the assignment chain. See How do I unassign or reassign Editors?.
  • Notify Editor is a special version of the Send Email link that opens an Ad-Hoc email form to contact the current Handling Editor.

Submissions remain in these Subordinate folders until all Editors who were assigned after you have made a decision (or been terminated). At that point, if none of your Subordinates have sent the decision letter it moves to your folder Submissions with Required Reviews Complete and waits for your action.

You may also find other editor assignments by:

• Editor Reminder Reports to show pending editor assignments and allow you to send reminders as needed, if you have permission. See How can I send editor reminders?.
• Search Submissions can be used to search for all submissions where you are in the assignment chain, no matter what position in the chain or who is the current Handling Editor. You could then save this search and set it to appear in your main menu. See the tips below or How can an Editor search for submissions or people? for more details.