Dear Academy Members,

I have included information on the responsibilities of the editor-in-chief, section editors, reviewers, and the general procedures followed by the Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science to provide a better understanding of the "flow" of our manuscript processing, review, and electronic publishing. The timelines involved in manuscript review represent my best estimates at this point in time. I will revise the timelines as I become more familiar with the trials and tribulations of publishing this electronic journal! Likewise, as procedures used by the Journal are refined, I will modify the procedures as required.

Any comments or suggestions for improving the editing, review, and publication process are eagerly solicited and very welcome. I look forward to continued service to the Academy.

David K. Ferris
Editor-in-chief,
Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Sciences
email:

- Electronic manuscript is received by editor-in-chief.
- Editor-in-chief verifies the manuscript follows the guidelines to authors.
(minor omissions may be allowed at this stage of the review process).
- Author is notified that manuscript is in review.
- Manuscript is converted to Adobe Acrobat PDF file format and line numbers are inserted for reference.
- PDF version of the manuscript is emailed to the appropriate section editor.
- Section editor emails the PDF version to reviewers
- Reviewers critique manuscript, provide feedback and return comments to section editor.
- Section editor or editor-in-chief returns manuscript, reviewer's comments, general summary of comments, editorial comments, and a publishing recommendation to the author.
- If manuscript is recommended for publication, author addresses reviewer's comments and/or makes changes to the manuscript as necessary.
- Author submits the revised manuscript and their response to reviewer's comments electronically to the section editor or editor-in-chief.
- Section editor makes additional editorial critiques as required and/or sends the manuscript out for re-review.
- If manuscript is recommended for publication, section editor sends electronic version of the manuscript to the editor-in-chief with any comments.
- Editor-in-chief reviews the manuscript and contacts the author regarding any additional editorial changes required prior to publication.
- Publication!

• Section editors should be members of the Academy.

  The review process...

• The editor-in-chief will maintain a copy of the original manuscript (PDF file) for comparison purposes. It is suggested that section editors maintain copies of the original manuscript and any revisions until all reviewer's and editor's comments are addressed.
• Manuscripts will be delivered to you by email. You will receive the file in Adobe Acrobat 5 PDF format with page and line numbers added for reference. Adobe Acrobat Reader is a free program available from www.adobe.com.
• Verify that the manuscript follows the Guidelines for Authors.

  Please do not accept submissions sent directly to you for review. Either return the file to the author with instructions to resubmit the manuscript properly or forward the manuscript to the editor-in-chief so the file can be converted into PDF format for distribution and entered into the database for tracking purposes.

  Documents will be distributed as locked Adobe PDF files. This format allows consistent pagination of the document. Most reviewers will prefer to print the manuscript out and mark it instead of editing on-screen. When reviewing or editing electronically, please type your responses in Microsoft Word or your email program and refer to the line numbers for reference. Reviewers, please save comments as a "text only" file from Microsoft Word before emailing as an attachment.  This step removes summary information (identification info) inserted by Microsoft Word!
  

• At least TWO appropriate reviewers for the manuscript must be selected. The section editor may serve as one reviewer if desired.
• Email/forward the PDF version of the manuscript to the reviewers.
• Await reviewer's comments...
  Reviewers are welcome to print the manuscript and make written comments as required. Alternatively, a reviewer may wish to email comments regarding the manuscript using the line numbers as reference. Reviewers should send both specific comments and a publishing recommendation back to the section editor either by email or surface mail. 
• If a section editor has not received feedback from a particular reviewer after 3-4 weeks, the section editor should contact the reviewer for a status update.
• If a reviewer is unable to complete a review in a timely manner or if comments from additional reviewers are deemed necessary, the section editor may solicit additional reviewer(s) as needed. The section editor should also email the author regarding the delay (specific reviewer(s) must NOT be identified by name or affiliation).
• Upon receiving the reviewer's feedback, a section editor should summarize reviewer comments as necessary, noting any particular areas of concern. Unless a reviewer wishes to be identified, anonymity of the peer reviewers must be respected at all times. The section editor is responsible for deleting any information that may allow the manuscript author to identify a specific reviewer by name or institution.
• Section editor provides any additional editorial and content review necessary.
• All comments, the section editor's publishing recommendations, and at least one copy of the manuscript (PDF version - with line numbers) are returned to the author by email or surface mail (section editor's discretion). The section editor should maintain a copy of reviewer's comments for reference unless the manuscript is rejected.

  If the manuscript is rejected for publication...
  The section editor emails a notice of the rejection to the editor-in-chief. A copy of the manuscript, reviewer's comments (if the paper made it to the review stage), and editor's comments are sent to the author by the section editor. Any copies of the manuscript maintained by the editor-in-chief, section editor, and reviewers are to be destroyed.

  - No additional action is required.

  If the manuscript is rejected for publication, but recommended for reconsideration after major revision...
  The section editor emails the manuscript status to the editor-in-chief. A copy of the manuscript, reviewer's comments, and editor's comments are sent to the author by the section editor. Any copies of the manuscript maintained by the editor-in-chief, section editor, and reviewers are to be destroyed.

  - No additional action is required. The manuscript may be revised and resubmitted at a later time.  Note that major revision is necessary prior to resubmission of the manuscript.

If the manuscript is acceptable for publication with substantial revision and/or requires additional reviews...
The section editor emails the manuscript status to the editor-in-chief. A copy of the manuscript, reviewer's comments, and editor's comments are sent to the author by the section editor. Revisions are made as required based on reviewer and editor feedback.  If specified concerns/revisions are not made, the reasons for not making such revisions must be explained to the section editor.  Explanations and the reasons for not making recommended changes in a manuscript must be supported by evidence!

The section editor corresponds with the author as necessary.

After manuscript revision, the manuscript is emailed (in Microsoft Word format) directly to the section editor. The section editor may review the manuscript and make additional recommendations and editorial comments as necessary.

If a section editor would like the manuscript re-converted to Adobe PDF format and line numbers added, he/she may email the manuscript to the editor-in-chief for conversion. The editor-in-chief returns the PDF version of the manuscript to the section editor.

- The manuscript must be revised and resubmitted directly to the section editor within 3 months of being returned to the author.  If a manuscript is not returned to the section editor in a timely manner, the manuscript must be re-submitted to the editor-in-chief as a "new" manuscript.

If the manuscript is acceptable for publication with minor revision and does not require additional input from peer reviewers...
The section editor notifies the editor-in-chief of the manuscript's status. A copy of the manuscript, reviewer's comments, and editor's comments are sent to the author by the section editor. Revisions are made as required based on reviewer and editor feedback.  If specified concerns/revisions are not made, the reasons for not making such revisions must be explained to the section editor.  Explanations and the reasons for not making recommended changes in a manuscript must be supported by evidence!

The section editor corresponds with the author as necessary.

After manuscript revision, the manuscript is emailed (in Microsoft Word format) directly to the section editor. The section editor may review the manuscript and make additional recommendations and editorial comments as necessary.

If a section editor would like the manuscript re-converted to Adobe PDF format and line numbers added, he/she may email the manuscript to the editor-in-chief for conversion. The editor-in-chief returns the PDF version of the manuscript to the section editor.

- The manuscript must be revised and resubmitted directly to the section editor within 3 months of being returned to the author.  If a manuscript is not returned to the section editor in a timely manner, the manuscript must be re-submitted to the editor-in-chief as a "new" manuscript.

Once the manuscript is recommended for publication by the section editor...
Once the manuscript is judged acceptable for publication, the section editor notifies the author and the editor-in-chief.  The editor-in-chief contacts the author to obtain the "final" revision of the manuscript. The editor-in-chief reviews the manuscript for both proper formatting and content, corresponding with the author as necessary.  A "page proof" is posted on the web and the address (web URL) is emailed to the author or a PDF file may be sent to the author.  The author should approve this page proof within two weeks.  Errors found in this page proof must be brought to the editor-in-chief's attention as soon as possible.

Once a manuscript completes the review process and the author has been notified (is accepted or rejected) section editors should delete/destroy any copies of the manuscript they maintained.

- Publication!