Aries Systems Corporation

With millions of articles processed through Editorial Manager^® (EM), it is critical for editorial staff to stay organized and informed on their assigned submissions to ensure tasks are completed and delays to publication are minimized. To support this, Editorial Manager comes equipped with a signposting feature that uses color-coded indicators on the Editor Main Menu and subsequent assignment folders to provide a convenient status check of current tasks and which manuscripts require the most urgent attention.

The traffic light-style meter represents the overall “health” of the submissions or assignments within each folder on the Main Menu. RED flags that a task that is past due, ORANGE indicates approaching the due date, and GREEN signals manuscripts on schedule. Journals configure the color-coded status parameters according to thresholds most appropriate for them, which can be modified independently at any time. By clicking on the signpost meter, the Editor views a high-level snapshot of the number of submissions that fall under each of the three color-coded status categories. Editors can investigate further by viewing all submissions under a certain status within each folder, or by re-ordering the manuscripts as they appear within each folder based on their signpost health status. Editor signpost information can also be included in automated Editor email reminders, featuring a status summary of one or more of the folders from the Editor Main Menu, as well as more granular details concerning each individual manuscript if desired.

Editor Signposting and automated Editor Summary Reminders are a convenient and proactive way to offer comprehensive transparency on the general health of submissions and assignments. Tactful optimization of threshold and letter configurations can help keep editorial teams on track, streamline workflow, and improve the performance of the journal. To learn more about Editor signposting, check out the tutorial video below or contact your Aries Account Coordinator.