In Editorial Manager (EM), editors are assigned to submissions, and must enter a decision in order to complete their assignment. Editors usually do this when all required reviews have been completed, or when the editor determines the submission is not suitable for review. When there are multiple editors assigned to the submission, they are expected to submit decisions in reverse order so that the last assigned editor submits the first decision.

How?

Follow these steps to make a decision on a submission in Editorial Manager.

1. Log in to Editorial Manager.
• If you do not see the Editor Main Menu upon login, click you name in the navigation bar, and switch the Role to your editor role.
2. Click the 'Submissions with Required Reviews Complete' folder in the Editor Main Menu to view your assignments where all reviews and subordinate editor decisions are complete.
• To make a decision without assigning reviewers, click on your "New Assignments" folder.
• You may have permission to submit a decision on submissions in other folders, as long as no other editor is already working on a decision.
• Note: Submissions currently found in 'All submissions being edited' are not eligible for decision until the edit process is completed.
3. Locate the submission and click 'Submit Editor's Decision and Comments' in the Action Links.

   • If a subordinate editor has already entered a decision and saved a draft letter, you will skip the main decision screen and go to the 'Draft Decision Letter' step below.
4. If text appears in red at the top "This submission has outstanding Reviewer and/or Editor assignments. You cannot submit your decision until all outstanding assignments are complete." this means there is at least one outstanding reviewer or editor assignment preventing you from making your decision, and you do not have permission to terminate these assignments as part of your decision.

   • Note: You could enter comments now and save them, however any reviewer comments submitted after you have edited the comments to author field will not be included in the merged comments to author. It is preferred to wait to enter your comments until all reviews are submitted.
   • You may have permission to Uninvite the reviewers individually if you do not have permission to terminate. See this FAQ.
   • You may have permission to unassign subordinate editor(s) to allow yourself to make a decision. See this FAQ.
5. If the Decision screen has the button 'Terminate Outstanding Assignments and Proceed' at the top and bottom, this means there are outstanding reviewers and/or subordinate editors.

   • You will not be able to complete your decision until you Terminate all outstanding assignments.
   • You will be able to read and edit (if you have that permission) any completed reviews, enter comments, etc.
   • If you do not have permission to terminate, you will be able to enter comments and save, but you will not be able to complete or submit until those others have completed their own tasks.
See how to terminate outstanding assignments
6. If there are no outstanding reviewers or subordinate editors, you can select a Decision term at the top of the form.

   • You should review the full form before selecting a term.
   • Some journals ask for an overall rating on a 1-100 scale, this may be optional or required.
   • If a subordinate editor has already entered a term and/or rating, you may be able to edit them.
7. Links at the top provide more information and actions. Only those applicable to the submission and your permissions will appear. You may see the following:

   • Details opens the manuscript details pop-up screen, and is followed by any submission flags.
   • History opens the submission history pop-up screen.
   • Attachments opens the Attachments window where you can upload new attachments, or view and manage those already uploaded. The link is followed by a number indicating the total number of attached files, you should always click this link if there is any number greater than zero, to see if your action is needed. See this FAQ.
   • Invite Reviewers will cancel your decision, and take you back to the Reviewer Selection Summary.
   • Assign Editors will cancel your decision and take you to the 'Assign Editor Screen'. The editor you assign will be your subordinate.
   • Reviewer Rating Card opens a table of all the completed reviews, comparing all the ratings submitted by the reviewers, as well as any submitted by the editors. Note there is only one editor rating, because each editor who enters a decision can only middy the editor rating rather than add a separate rating.
   • View Review Question Responses opens a table of all the completed reviews, comparing all the responses to the reviewer questionnaire.
   • Send Email opens the send email window, for you to select an ad hoc email.
8. You can view reviewer and subordinate editor comments in the recommendation table, which also includes any attachments they may have included. Click on any recommendation term in the table to view more.
9. If you have chosen a revise term, a line appears under the recommendation table with the number of days the author has to revise. See screenshot for example.
See more about revision due dates
10. The sections described below may be in a different order or hidden entirely, based on journal configuration, and can be different depending on Article type and Editor Role. Contact your Journal Manager with any questions.
• Confidential Comments to the Editor are displayed beneath the recommendation table. These are for your attention and won't be sent to the author or reviewers.
• The field will contain any comments left by subordinate editors or reviewers.
• In some journals a default text is defined to populate this field, such as a checklist for editor decisions.
• Comments you add to this field will be seen by other editors.
• Comments to Author will already contain any comments left by subordinate editors and possibly from reviewers as well. Add your own comments here. The contents of this field will be inserted into the decision letter.
• In some journals, the Reviewer Comments are configured to merge into the Editor comments. In this case, as soon as an Editor begins to enter the first decision all reviewer 'Comments to Author' are merged into the main Comments to Author field.
• Individual Reviewer Comments to Author allows you to customize the individual reviewer comments, and potentially exclude specific comments from the decision letter.
• Some journals do not have the individual fields, and merge comments all into one 'Comments to Author' field.
• Note the text here may have already been edited by a subordinate editor, the original reviewer comments can be seen by clicking their recommendation term above.
• The individual comments will be inserted into the decision letter as a list.
• Editor Decision Phrases are a list of short phrases that editors can select to be included in decision letters.
• The individual phrases selected will be inserted into the decision letter as a list.
• After selecting one or more phrases, click the 'Preview selected Phrases' button to see how they will look in the letter.
• See also How can I use Decision Phrases in Editorial Manager?
• Production Notes allows you to view and edit notes to be transmitted to the production team with an accepted submission.
• There may be a section of Editor Questions and/or Manuscript Rating Questions. Some questions may be mandatory to answer before you can proceed to submit the decision.
• There may be a section of Reviewer Questions and Responses. If the section is not displayed within the form itself, any Reviewer questions and responses are linked at the top of the form.
• There may be a section with Review Ratings, to enter a rating for each completed review.
See more about review ratings
11. To complete the decision, select a specific decision term from the drop-down menu at the top center of the page. This is your overall editor decision, and controls which decision letter template will be used.
12. Click 'Proceed'.

    • In the Draft Decision page, preview the decision and comments. Click the appropriate button:

      • Click 'Edit Decision' if you need to change anything.
      • 'Proceed' appears if you have permission to draft a decision letter, this will submit the decision and advance you to the Draft Decision Letter.
      • 'Submit Decision appears if you do not have permission to draft a decision letter.
13. When you have submitted your decision:

    • A confirmation page appears if you do not have permission to draft the letter. Your task is now complete, and the submission will pass on to the next editor in the workflow.
    • The 'Notify Author' page appears if your role has permission to draft the decision letter. See this FAQ for more information.
    • If this a 'Reject and Transfer' type of decision and no previous editor has done so, you will be prompted to select target journals for the transfer offer before the Notify Author page appears.