When a new or revised manuscript is submitted to a publication, the Editor/publication staff (with proper permissions) assigns an Editor to handle the submission, thereby introducing the submission into the editorial workflow. The workflow often includes the assignment of a series of Editors (also called an assignment chain or Editor chain).
For a demonstration of different approaches, watch this video on Editor assignment options.
Several terms are used in EM to describe an Editor's relationship with a submission or to describe where the Editor is in an Editor chain:
Special Relationship Editor or Attached Editor (often staff as described above) receives the submission and assigns the first Editor in the chain. The Attached Editor is not considered part of the chain. (An Attached Editor may also become an Assigned Editor if the individual is also assigned to the submission through the Assign Editor function.) For details, see Special Relationship between Publication Staff and Submissions.
First Editor is the Editor assigned first to the submission (by the Special Relationship Editor). This is often an Editor-in-Chief.
Corresponding Editor is the First Editor, unless the Corresponding Editor setting is changed (on a submission's Details page) or the publication is configured to automatically transfer Corresponding Editor designation. If the designation is automatically transferred, the Handling Editor is always the Corresponding Editor. For details, see Configure Corresponding Editor Designation.
Handling Editor is the Editor with current responsibility for moving the submission forward. (The Handling Editor designation changes as the submission moves through the workflow.) The Handling Editor might be required to perform one of the following actions:
Assigned Editor is any Editor who is assigned to the submission and is in the list of Editors on the Details page (default layout). The Assigned Editor can be the First Editor, the Handling Editor, or any other Editor in the Editor chain. (The Attached Editor is not an Assigned Editor, unless that individual is also assigned to the submission through the Assign Editor function.)
Lower-level Editor (also called subordinate Editor) is any Editor assigned in the chain after the Editor serving as the point of reference.
Higher-level Editor is any Editor assigned in the chain before the Editor serving as the point of reference.
Editors may be given responsibility for a submission in two ways:
Editor roles must be defined as able to receive assignments by one method or the other. For example, the policy at a publication might be that the Editor-in-Chief is always assigned by the editorial office, but the Associate Editors are always invited, so that Associate Editors have the opportunity to decline an assignment.
Note: Invited Editors are considered by the system to be the Handling Editor as soon as they are invited, but they can take no action on a submission until they agree to take on the assignment.
Invitation emails may contain clickable deep links to accept or decline the invitation. An Editor may also access the submission in the New Invitations folder and use Action links Editor to accept or decline the invitation. If the Editor agrees, a confirmation message appears, and the submission moves to the Editor's New Assignments folder. If the Editor declines, the system presents a page where the Editor can provide a reason for declining as well as suggest a qualified colleague who might serve as Editor.
Editors with permission to assign other Editors see an Assign Editor link in the Action column for each submission. The link opens the Assign Editor page.
The Assign Editor page enables the user to select Editors with a search tool or from an Editor grid that displays all Editors who are available (by role configuration) to be assigned or invited.
Both search results and the full grid show the number of current assignments, number and name of classification matches, availability during a defined upcoming timeframe, and past assignments during a defined timeframe for each Editor.
The assigning Editor selects an Editor to assign/invite and sends a letter to notify the Editor of the assignment. The letter may be customized.
Publications can streamline the process of assigning Editors by creating Editor chain templates that enable a user (with permission) to assign an entire chain (or the first part of one) in one action. For details, see Create Editor Chain Templates.
Editors may also be unassigned. For details, see Unassign Editor or Replace Editor (Modify Editor Chain).
Editors may also be allowed to assign submissions to themselves. This option is useful in small editorial offices.
Editors with permission to assign other Editors (as described above) may also be granted permission to select multiple submissions and assign them all simultaneously to a specific Editor. This option may also be used to reassign a batch of previously assigned submissions to a different Editor. For details, see Configure Batch Editor Assignment.
This feature is useful for publications that have a large pool of Editors. For details, see Suggest Editor Feature.
This autonomous assignment feature is useful for publications that do not have editorial office staff or for larger publications that have a large pool of Editors. For details, see Direct-to-Editor Feature.
To enable Editor search tool, contact your Aries Account Coordinator.
Grant permissions related to assigning and receiving assignments. Go to RoleManager > Editor Role. Grant permissions to the applicable Editor roles.
To configure availability calculation displayed in the Editor grid, see Request Unavailable Date Information.
To configure the timeframe for past assignments displayed in the Editor grid, go to PolicyManager > Submission Policies > Set Request or Assign Editor Display Options.
To configure letters, go to PolicyManager > Email and Letter Policies > Edit Letters. Letters should be configured to notify the Editor of assignment or invitation to handle a submission and to notify the Handling Editor (and Attached Editor) when an Editor accepts or declines an invitation. Letter Family: Invite/Assign/Unassign Editor.
To associate letters with ActionManager events, go to ActionManager > Editor Letters. In the Editor Assigned section, use the drop-down lists to match a letter (configured above) with each of these events (as needed):
For details on letter configuration, see Create Letters.
Deep-linking merge fields are available for use in Editor invitations. See Deep-linking merge fields.
Publications may opt to configure editorial document status terms to align with the Editor assignment process. For example, the ActionManager event Editor Invited for Assignment should have a unique document status term, such as "Editor Invited" (the invitation has been sent but not accepted). The ActionManager events Editor Agree to Assignment and Editor Assigned (Not Invited) should have the same status term, such as "With Editor" (once the invitation has been accepted the submission is in the same position in the workflow as a submission that was directly assigned). For details, see Customize Editorial Document Status Terms.
Editor-related information may be included on custom Details pages. See Configure Details Page.
See also:
Configure Editor Decision-making
Allow Early Decision for New Submissions
To return to previous page click ALT + left arrow