Discussion Forums

All Editors invited to a discussion can access discussions to read and respond to discussion posts. Editors with additional permissions can initiate and manage discussions.

Access to discussions

Any Editor may be invited to participate in a discussion (unless blocked for the submission). An invited Editor may receive an email invitation to the discussion that includes a deep link, allowing the recipient to go directly to the discussion topic.

Editors (with the applicable RoleManager permission) will see an Initiate Discussion link in various Editor folders. That link is replaced by a Discussions link when discussion has been initiated for the submission. Editors who have been invited to participate will also see a Discussions link for the submission in various Editor folders.

All participants (the initiating Editor and all invited Editors) see a Submissions with Active Discussions folder displayed on the Editor To-Do List under Pending Assignments. The number of active discussions is indicated in parentheses next to the link. The number of unread discussion posts (if any) appears in a blue circle.

The Submissions with Active Discussions folder displays all submissions for which the Editor is involved in an open discussion.

Columns in the Submissions with Active Discussions folder provide discussion information: Topic, Date of Last Post, Date Discussion Started, Discussion Initiator.

Names in the Topic column appear as links that go directly to the discussion page. Multiple topics may appear for a submission if you have been invited to more than one (or have permission to view all). The Topic column may be blank if no topic name has been entered for a discussion.

The Action column may display the following links for each submission:

• Discussions: Allows the Editor to access discussion topics for the submission. (Depending on role permissions and how many discussion topics an Editor has been included in as a participant, the link may go directly to the discussion topic or to an intermediate page listing multiple topics.) This link may also appear on the submission's Details page.
• View Submission: Allows the Editor to view the submission being discussed.
• Details: Appears if the Editor is in the chain for the current revision of the submission (or in the chain of the parent submission if this is an invited submission) OR the Editor has permission to view all/search all submissions OR the link is configured to display for discussions.
• Go to Submission: Appears if the Editor is in the chain for the current revision of the submission.
• Send Email: Appears if the Editor has permission to send ad hoc email.

To access a discussion topic:

• Click the link in the Topic column in the Submissions with Active Discussions folder to go directly to the Discussion page.

OR

1. Click the Discussions link in the Action column to open the Discussions pop-up window. This pop-up lists all available topics.
2. Click the View link next to your chosen topic to go to the Discussion page.

Actions available on the Discussion page

Participants can perform the following actions on the Discussion page:

• Post a comment: Enter text in the Comments box and click the Post button.
• View and print comments: Comments are listed in a grid, which can be sorted by date or participant. Click the View and Print All button to display the comments list in a printable format.
• View submission: Use the View Submission link to access the PDF.
• View details: Use the Details link to access the submission's Details page.

Note: An Editor with Initiate and Manage Discussions permission who has not participated in a discussion but posts a note in the discussion is automatically added as a participant.

Unread discussion post indicators

A blue circle with a white number in it visually alerts Editors of unread posts in discussions they initiated or in which they are actively participating. The indicator shows the number of unread posts.

Displayed next to a folder link, the indicator shows the number of unread posts for all discussions for submissions in that folder. Next to the Discussion link for a submission, the indicator shows the number of unread posts for all discussions related to that submission. Next to a View link on the Discussions pop-up window for a submission, the indicator shows the number of unread posts for the single discussion.

On the Discussion page, unread comments posted since the user's last visit are marked with a blue dot.

Initiate a discussion

Editors with permission can initiate discussion on a submission. An action link appears in various Editor folders.

1. Click the Initiate Discussion link to open the Initiate Discussion page.
2. Select or enter a name for the topic.
   1. If the publication uses topic templates, a Choose Topic Template drop-down list appears. Select the appropriate template.
   2. The Topic text box may be pre-populated with information entered on the default template. Pre-populated text may or may not be editable.
3. Enter initial comments.
   1. A discussion cannot be initiated if the Initial Comments field is empty.
   2. If the publication uses topic templates, the Initial Comments field may be pre-populated from the selected template. Pre-populated comments may or may not be editable.
4. Select participants.
   1. A discussion cannot be initiated unless at least one participant is selected.
   2. All users with an Editor role are listed in the bottom section of the page. (Editors who have been blocked for the submission are not available for invitation.) Check the box in the Select column next to an Editor's name to invite that Editor to the discussion. The selection option depends on publication configuration:
   3. Editor Search option: Perform a search and then use the radio button to select an Editor from the results list. (This option is useful for publications with many Editors.)
5. For each selected Editor, check the box in the appropriate column to grant permission to:
   1. View Reviews and Comments
   2. Download Files
   3. View Draft Decision Letter
6. Launch the discussion.
   1. Click Proceed to Customize Letters OR
   2. Click Start Discussion without Sending Letters. The discussion is opened once letters are sent or the option not to send them is selected.
7. Set a flag (if available). If the publication uses submission flags, Editors (with RoleManager permission) see a Set Flag button on the Discussion Participants Confirmation page.
   1. Click the button to access the list of submission flags.
   2. Check the box next to the applicable flag and click Submit. (This flag is displayed to appropriately authorized users next to the submission's Details link and can be managed as other flags.)

If one or more discussions already exist for the submission, the Initiate Discussion link is replaced by a Discussions link. To initiate another discussion:

1. Click the Discussions link to open the Discussions page. (This lists all discussions for the submission.)
2. Click Start New Topic. This opens the Initiate Discussion page.
3. Follow instructions above.

Manage discussion forums

Editors with permission to manage discussion forums have additional functionality available on the Discussion page. Depending on permission settings, Editors may be allowed to perform the following activities on the Discussion page only for discussion topics they initiated, or Editors may be allowed to perform the following activities for any discussion topic:

• Post a comment: If an Editor is not currently in the participant list, posting a comment automatically adds that Editor to the list.
• Modify participant access to View Reviews and Comments, Download Files, and View Draft Decision letter: Check the box in the applicable column next to participant's name.
• Send email reminder to a participant: Use Send Email link.
• Invite additional participants to the discussion: Click Add Participants button.
• Close discussion: Click Conclude Discussion button. (Once a discussion has been concluded, it no longer appears in the Submissions with Active Discussions folder for any Editor. All participants and the initiating Editor continue to have visibility to the entire discussion topic via the Discussions link on the Details page.)
• Reopen a closed discussion: Click Reopen Discussion button and post a new comment. (You may choose to include previously invited participants or new participants. Previous participants in this discussion topic who are not invited to the current discussion are displayed in gray italic text in the Participant Summary.)
• Manage flags: Click Flag icon.

Reviewer consultation (discussion forum for Reviewers)

Reviewers who have completed a review for a submission may participate in a discussion forum created just for Reviewers and Editors associated with the submission. These discussions are called Reviewer Consultations. (Unlike discussions for Editors, only one Reviewer Consultation may be opened per submission.)

Most of the handling of this discussion type is automated to reduce the workload of Editors. The discussion is opened automatically when the first Editor for a new submission is either assigned or agrees to handle a submission. All Editors and Reviewers assigned to the submission for all versions/revisions are automatically added to the discussion. The discussion is concluded automatically when the submission's final disposition is set.

The discussion remains open through all revisions unless an Editor with permission to manage discussions closes it.

Discussion tools are the same as those for Editor discussions.

 

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