Manuscript Submissions - Operating Procedure
Standard Operating Procedure for Processing Manuscript Submissions
Uploaded manuscripts are vetted by the editorial office staff for their compliance with the Instructions to Authors. Manuscripts that do not comply are unsubmitted and the authors have the opportunity to correct their manuscript and submit again while maintaining the same manuscript ID. Manuscripts that involve clinical trials are also vetted for clinical trials registration (e.g. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov) and compliance with CONSORT guidelines (http://www.consort-statement.org).
Once the manuscript checklist has been completed by the editorial office staff, the Editor-in-Chief is notified that a manuscript is ready for assignment. The Editor-in-Chief assigns the manuscript to both a Deputy Editor and an Associate Editor. The Associate Editor is responsible for assigning and inviting the referees. Assignment of the referees is made with acknowledgement of the authors’ preferences, although there is no guarantee that the authors’ preferences will be used.
Once the referees’ opinions are complete, the Associate Editor makes a recommendation. The recommendation is forwarded to the Deputy Editor who reviews the material and adds their own recommendation/decision. These recommendations provide the basis for the composition of the final decision letter by the Editor-in-Chief.
The Editor-in-Chief ordinarily prepares all decision letters, with the exception of those manuscripts on which the Editor-in-Chief is an author, or for which the Editor-in-Chief recuses himself due to a conflict of interest. The conflict of interest guidelines are outlined separately in the Instructions to Authors and on our website. In most cases the Editor-in-Chief is merely overseeing that the editorial processes have been completed and that the manuscript has been properly vetted. The Editor-in-Chief ensures that the issues are properly formulated to a decision level about whether or not resubmission will be permitted. Resubmission is normally permitted for those manuscripts where the issues can be resolved by the author without major changes in the manuscript. The Editor-in-Chief also resolves differences of opinion between the Deputy and Associate Editors.
Editorial Board Membership
The composition of the editorial board is determined by the Editor-in-Chief. The editorial board is approved en bloc by the Joint Council of the American societies (AST, ASTS). Membership on the editorial board is based on ensuring appropriate regional, national, and gender representation. The potential candidates are selected largely on the basis of their expertise in their field and their excellent past performance as referees for the journal, including the number of papers refereed and the quality of the reports. The term of appointment of the Associate Editors is normally three years, but is renewable. The Deputy Editors in turn are selected for representation of the organs, regions and areas of transplantation science that they cover. The term of Deputy Editors is usually five years, but also is renewable. The term of the Editor-in-Chief is normally five years, but is also renewable.
