Writing Labs for the editorial desk

Writing Labs is the manuscript editor built into the editorial desk. Each role sees its own tab: the Editor in Chief and the editors see screening, assessment and decisions; copyeditors, layout editors and proofreaders see the tools of their stage. Everything is saved to the manuscript's submission in the journal, so the record stays complete.

Open the editorial desk

Problems before Writing Labs

• Every step started with downloading a file from the journal system, editing it on a laptop and uploading it again, which produced many copies and uncertainty about which one was current.
• Anonymising a manuscript by hand for double-blind review, with names left in headers, comments or document properties.
• Checking references one by one for missing citations and broken DOIs.
• Copying reviewer comments into the decision letter and the author's revision request by hand.
• Copyedit and proof corrections sent to authors by e-mail, answered in another file, and merged again.
• Page numbers, the citation line and the publication data of each article worked out separately for every issue.

Screening

• The screening form next to the manuscript: scope, template, completeness and originality, with notes that stay with the manuscript.
• The anonymous copy for double-blind review: export an anonymous Word copy and see what is still left (names, affiliations, file details) before it goes to the reviewers.
• The manuscript check against the journal template, and the reference check (uncited entries, citations without an entry, DOIs that do not resolve).

Peer review and decisions

• The assessment and decision form of each round opens beside the text.
• Reviewer comments from the round are gathered in one panel; export them or turn a comment into a revision note for the author.
• One decision letter per round, written from the assessment and the revision notes.
• When the author revises in Writing Labs you see the tracked changes and the author's answer to every point.

Copyediting, layout and proofs

• Copyediting with tracked changes; save the copyedited version to the copyediting stage and ask the author to check it.
• Compare versions side by side (submitted, revised, copyedited).
• Layout: page setup, headers and footers, export to PDF and save the production file and the galley status to the production stage.
• Proofreading: ask the author to check the proof; the answer comes back into the same manuscript.
• The production readiness check lists what is still missing before publication.

Publication data

• The publication panel shows the issue, the article's pages within the issue (kept in step with the other articles), the citation line and the publication date.
• The author's publication certificate is prepared from the same data.

Working together

• Comments in the margin, tracked changes to accept or reject, version history with labels.
• Chat with the contributors and the journal's discussions for each stage, without leaving the manuscript.

Rules that do not change

Writing Labs supports the editors; it does not make editorial decisions. Decisions follow the peer review policy and publication ethics. Payment and partner arrangements are never visible in the assessment tools and never influence a decision.

Getting access

Writing Labs opens from the editorial desk for editorial team members whose role the journal has enabled. Questions go to [email protected].