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How do Editors edit a submission in Editorial Manager?
Last updated on April 27, 2022Editors with appropriate permission are able to edit a submission’s metadata, upload files for a submission, download files from a submission, and send incomplete or incorrect submissions back to the Author.
The ‘Edit Submission’ feature should be used very carefully. If a submission is with an Editor or out for review, and the ‘Edit Submission’ feature is used, the Editor or Reviewers may end up viewing, printing and reviewing an outdated version of the submission.
In the Editorial Manager system the editorial staff and/or Editors with configured permission will have access to the source files and the metadata of an Author's submission. The Editor can make changes to the metadata, download the source files, upload new files, and rebuild the PDF to reflect the changes. The Editor can also send a submission back to the Author for changes or for approval of changes made by the Editor.
In order for an author to make any edits after they have completed the submission or revision process, the submission must be formally 'Sent Back to Author'. The steps depend on the current status.
How to Send Back to Author before any Editor has been assigned
- Locate the submission and select Send Back to Author from the submission’s Action menu. This is available only when the submission is in one of the folders:
- New Submissions / New Revisions
- New Submission Requiring Assignment / Revisions Requiring Assignment
- Direct to Editor New Submissions
- A template letter to the author will appear.
- Customize the letter to the author as needed, and click Send Letter.
The submission will appear in the author's folder Submissions Sent Back to Author. The author must edit the submissions, rebuild the PDF, and approve it. The submission will then return to the folder where it began in step 1 above.
How to Send Back to Author after Editors have been assigned
Submissions can be sent back to author for approval even after editors are assigned and the review process has begun. This should be done with caution as it can lead to confusion especially if reviewers are already working on the current version.
Submissions should never be edited after they have reached a final disposition of accept. These submissions have already been transmitted to production, and changes made in Editorial Manager will no longer affect the published version. Contact your Journal Manager immediately for any changes to already accepted articles.
If the Edit Submission action is not available, then either you do not have permission, someone else has begun an edit, or the submission is not currently at a status where this is allowed. For example, when a partial decision has been saved.
Sending back to author in this way is done by editing the submission as an editor, skipping to the end without actually making a change, and then sending the submission back to the author to "approve the changes".
- Locate the submission via Search or via the current status folder.
- Select Edit Submission from the Action list.
- Choose the option ‘Edit Submission (and rebuild PDF)’.
- Optionally make changes to any submission step as described in more detail below.
- Click 'Attach Files', then 'Next', then 'Build PDF for My Approval'.
- In the confirmation screen, you will be prompted to continue to the Submissions Requiring Editor Approval folder.
- In that folder, action links will appear only after the PDF is built. The folder will automatically refresh every few minutes.
- When the PDF has been built, click View Submission. You will not be able to send back to author without viewing first.
- Click 'Send Back to Author'. A template letter to the author will appear.
- Customize the letter to the author as needed, and click 'Send Letter'.
Submissions sent back to author in this way continue to display in the same folder they were before. The submission is considered to be partially edited and the status is locked, some actions will not be available such as assigning an additional editor, submitting a decision, etc. The author must edit the submission, rebuild the PDF, and approve to in order to complete the edit action and release the workflow.
What happens after the submission has been sent back to author
No matter which method is used to initiate Send Back to Author the following occurs:
- For submissions that had not yet begun the editorial workflow, the submission status will change to Sent Back to Author until the author has completed and approved changes. Other submissions will maintain their previous status, but be locked and unable to move forward while in edit mode.
- For the editor who sent the submission back, the submission can be found in the folder Submissions Sent Back to Author for Approval until the author has completed and approved the changes. Other editors who have the permission to search for the submission can find it via the Simple Search in the navigation bar or the full Search Submissions.
- Most editor actions, for example editor decisions, are not available while the submission is in this status.
- After the author completes and approves the change, the submission will return to the previous status.
- For submissions that had not yet begun the editorial process, the author will have an option to Remove the submission rather than edit and resubmit. This option is not available after initial editor assignment.
The Edit Submission function allows the editor to go through the entire submission process and make changes, such as adding or removing files. It includes safeguards to protect the Editor and journal office from corrupting or incorrectly altering an Author's submission during the ‘Edit Submission’ process:
- The Edit Submission process is similar to the Author's Submit New Manuscript process, which includes steps that require the Editor to view an edited submission before approving it or sending it back to the Author. After editing, the editor is able to decide whether to approve the changes personally, or whether to send back to author for approval.
- The Edit Submission capability includes the ability to ‘Revert’ a submission back to previously approved version if the ‘Edit Submission’ process goes wrong. Reverting only effects the source files and the PDF. Metadata does not get reverted and must be changed back manually. If a submission is reverted, the submission record will move back to whichever folder it was in before the ‘Edit Submission’ process began.
- While the submission is in edit mode and until it has been fully approved, the workflow is on hold. No editor actions can be done, and other changes of status such as reviewer activity take effect only after the changes are fully approved.
Take the following steps to Edit Submission (and rebuild PDF):
- From the Action menu of the submission, select Edit Submission. If you do not see the option this can mean:
- You do not have permission to Edit Submissions.
- The submission is already being edited, or is returned to author. Click the History link and look at the Status History to see if that is the case.
- The status does not allow editing, for example the submission has reached a final disposition (accept, reject or withdrawn), there is a decision in progress, the submission is out for revision.
- Select the option 'Edit the submission (and rebuild PDF)'.
- Follow the author submission process to make the needed changes.
- Note that the order of steps is different for Authors and Editors, but all the same steps are present for both.
- Use Previous and Next at the bottom of each page to step through the submission process.
- Use the list of submission steps on the left side to skip to the step you need to change.
- Note that changes to the Article Type could change what other steps and fields are visible and/or mandatory.
- Note if the Article Type is changed to one with different file types enabled, some uploaded files may be automatically deleted.
- When all necessary changes have been made, go to the 'Attach Files' step and click 'Next'.
- Click 'Build PDF for my Approval'.
- The submission will move to your menu folder ‘Submissions requiring editor approval’ where it will remain until you approve or revert the changes.
If you exit the editing process without clicking either Build PDF for my Approval or Revert Submission, the submission will move to the Incomplete Submissions folder on your main menu. It will remain there until you take some action from that folder, and all other editor actions will be blocked while it is incomplete.
Submissions will remain the Submissions Requiring Editor Approval folder for the editor who initiated the Edit Submission process, until that editor takes action as described below. Note that using Edit Submission Data Only bypasses the approval step, but does not rebuild the PDF.
- Wait for the full Action list to populate in the Submissions Requiring Editor Approval folder.
- Unless files are very large it normally takes only a few minutes to build the PDF.
- Submissions will remain in this folder until you complete one of the next actions listed below, and the all other editor action will be blocked while it is waiting for approval.
- Select 'View Submission'. Note that you'll be unable to take the next action until you have viewed the submission.
- Select the appropriate next action.
- Edit Submission to make further changes.
- Approve Submission to finalize the edits and return the submission to the previous status.
- Revert changes to undo changes to the files and return to the previous status. Note changes to metadata are not reverted, only the file inventory and the PDF itself return to the previous version.
- Send Back to Author for Approval to allow the author to approve or make additional changes. See ‘To Send Back to Author after editors have been assigned’ above for more details.
The Edit the Submission Data Only option allows editors to make quick changes without going through the full PDF rebuilding and approval process. However, it does mean that the PDF will be out of date until someone edits the submission fully and does rebuild the PDF.
This option should only be used for minor changes that would not cause problems for someone who looks only at the PDF.
When the user clicks the link, Edit the submission data only, the submission does not move out of its current folder. The submissions is not available to any other Editor or Publisher for editing while it is being edited; however it becomes available for others to edit as soon as the page is saved.
- From the Action menu of the submission, select 'Edit Submission'.
- Select the option 'Edit the submission (and rebuild PDF)'.
- Editing the submission data only includes an abbreviated version of the Edit Submission interface:
- Enter Metadata: The page displays all fields as configured for the Article Type of the submission.
- Add/Edit/Remove Authors: This is the same as the Author-facing page of the same name.
- Attach Files: This page allows Editors/Publishers to add new files to the submission.
- These files are not included in the Author/Editor or Reviewer versions of the PDF files, but are available to editors on the File Inventory page for the submission.
- These files can be included in the PDF at a later time by editing the submission using the option, Edit the Submission (and rebuild PDF).
- Click 'Submit' to save the changes.
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