What are user roles in Editorial Manager?
Last updated on July 10, 2025Watch this short video to see how to change between user roles in Editorial Manager.
Editorial Manager journals define various roles within different types such as Author, Editor and Reviewer, and each user account can be assigned one of each type of role.
When logging in, buttons allow you to select one of your roles. If you click 'Enter', or select a role type that's not assigned to your account, you will go to the default role chosen in your Personal Information.
Check the upper left of the screen under the Editorial Manager logo to see the role you are currently logged in to.
- In most journals, this label is a drop-down that also allows switching to your other role(s). Some journals may disable role switching, requiring you to log out and in again to select a different role.
- Everyone has an Author role; other roles are assigned as needed by the Journal Office or by an Editor.
- You can select which of your roles to log in by default by updating your personal information.
For specifics, select a Role type below:
Everyone registered in Editorial Manager will have an Author role by default. Users with Author roles can login to view their personal submission history, check status of submissions under review, and make new submissions to the journal.
If coauthor verification is enabled for the journal, the Author menu also includes any Co-authored submissions linked to your account, see What is Editorial Manager Co-Author verification?
Links for Authors
How do I submit a manuscript in Editorial Manager?
What does the status of my submission mean in Editorial Manager?
How do I find the manuscript I submitted to an Elsevier journal?
In Editorial Manager you become a reviewer when an Editor or the Journal Office assigns a Reviewer Role to your account. Those with a Reviewer role can receive and respond to invitations to review new and/or revised submissions, view the submission, and send their comments to Editors.
Within a journal, specific reviewer roles are defined and may have different levels of access or different review forms to complete. For example, 'Editorial Board Member' may have different access from 'Reviewer'. Editors should contact their Journal Manager for assistance with Reviewer Role definitions.
Links for Reviewers
How do I respond to an invitation to review in Editorial Manager?
How do I find a submission I was invited to review in Editorial Manager?
In Editorial Manager you become an Editor when the Journal Manager or Editorial Office assigns an Editor Role to your account. Each journal defines their own Editor roles, and the names of roles in one journal are unrelated to any other journal. Different editorial roles within the same journal may have access to different functions, although editors with the same editorial role will have the same folders and actions available.
As an editor if you need a specific function which isn't currently available to you, please contact your Journal Manager.
Links for Editors
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