Associate Editor
1. Once you received the email that a submission is assigned to you, you can click on the link in the
email to have access to the editorial page.
2. Keep in mind that login is required to see the editorial page and to check the status of current
submissions.
please click on the following link and log in with the same email address that you receive the “assign
submission” email from the editors:
https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/myaccount.cgi
If the system didn’t let you log in, or you see an error message, please use the "Forget your password?"
option below the login section and follow the subsequent instructions for resetting your password.
3. After you logged in, you are able to see the “Manage Submission” link on your “My Account” page
At this point, you can click on “Manage Submission” link to get to the editorial page, or you can click on
the submission link on the “assign submission” email that was sent to you by the journal editors.
3. At the “Manage Submission” page, you are able to see the list of the submissions. Click on the
“Title” of the submission to get to the “Submission Detail” Page.
4. While you are at the “Submission Detail” page, click on the Reviewers link in the sidebar. The
reviewers section will be where the entire review process takes place for editors.
5. There are three options for suggesting reviewers:
• Enter new reviewer: Enter the full name and email address of the person. The affiliation field
is optional.
• From Master List of Reviewers: These are all the people who have reviewed for the journal in
the past, as well as any new reviewers designated to appear on this list. This list can be
searched and sorted to locate a particular reviewer.
• From Author List: Displays all authors who have submitted to the journal. Reviewers
page, with one reviewer in the “suggested” state:
Reviewer History
Associate Editors may check on a reviewer’s history with the journal by clicking on the history link for each
suggested reviewer. (Use the review history link in the Status column if you wish to see a reviewer’s activity
for that submission only.)
The reviewer history page displays:
• the number of outstanding requests for the reviewer,
• the number of manuscripts the reviewer is currently assigned to,
• whether the reviewer has completed any reviews in the past 45 days,
• the number of reviews the reviewer has completed in the past 12 months,
• the average time the reviewer takes to complete a review,
• and whether the reviewer is an author in the journal.
Click the Show All button to view the full reviewer list.
Setting the number of reviewers per manuscript
Sending review requests
6. After building a list of suggested reviewers, associate editors can request reviews from some or
all of them.
To send review requests:
1. Navigate to the manuscript’s Reviewers page.
2. Click the request link next to the reviewer’s name.
3. From the review request page, editors send an email message to requested reviewers. By
default, the email includes how long the reviewer has to respond to the request, the review
due date, and a link to a page where the reviewer either accepts or declines to review. The
text of the email can be modified.
4. If there is any additional guidelines, comments, rubric that needs to be sent to the reviewers
along with the email, you can do that by selecting the “Choose File” button and attach a file
to this email
5.
6. Click Send.
The reviewers table on the Reviewers page will display:
• The name of the reviewer,
• The status and date of the review request, and
• The options available for the review.
Options column
The Options column will change depending on reviewers’ individual status. As a reviewer changes
state—e.g., from “requested” to “committed”—certain commands will disappear and new ones will
appear.
The commands available to you for reviewers at different states are listed below:
• suggested: request, delete, email
• requested: re-request, withdraw request, commit for reviewer, decline for reviewer, email
• committed: upload report for reviewer, remind, revise due date, email
• LATE: same options as for committed, but the status changes to LATE
How Reviews Are Submitted
Once the reviewer has committed to the review, she/he will arrive at the report upload form where
she/he uploads the full-text report, recommends an editorial decision (e.g., “Major revisions
required”), uploads a cover letter only the editor can see, and—this is an optional, configurable
feature—uploads attachments intended for the author(s).
To see a full description of the reviewer’s perspective during peer review, see Peer Review Tools.
Elements of the report upload form:
• Report: Reviews may be submitted as PDF files, MS Word/RTF documents, or plain text
pasted into the provided text box. If an MS Word/RTF file is uploaded, it will be converted to
a PDF. This automatic conversion removes the reviewer’s identity from the
document Properties of any file. It is up to the reviewer and assigned editor to verify that the
reviewer’s identity is not included within the report. The assigned editor can hide the report if
the reviewer mistakenly includes identifying information.
• Recommendation: The reviewer must choose between three options, all of which are merely
suggestions to the editor for the editorial decision:
o Encourage major revisions as described in my report
o Accept this article with minor (or no) revisions as described in my report
o Reject this article without an option to resubmit
• Cover Letter (optional) : Only visible to editors. Never shared with authors.
• Attachments (optional): PDF, MS Word/RTF are recommended. However, any file type can be
attached. The reviewer and assigned editor should verify that the reviewer’s identity is not
revealed in any attachment, as they will become available to the author(s) once an editorial
decision is registered.
Once a referee report is submitted, the manuscript’s Last Event will change to Review completed.
Assigned editors receive automatic email notification when referee reports are uploaded. Editors
receive automatic email notification if additional reviewers are needed for a manuscript.
Submitting reports for reviewers
Just as editors can upload submissions on behalf of authors, editors always have the option of
uploading reports on behalf of committed reviewers. If a reviewer emails his/her report to the editor,
it can be uploaded to the system by using the upload report for reviewer feature next to the
reviewer’s name on the manuscript’s Reviewers page. If the report is shown to authors after an
editorial decision is registered, a report uploaded by an editor on a reviewer’s behalf will appear to
authors as if the reviewer submitted it himself/herself.
Following up with delinquent reviewers
The system will notify editors and reviewers when a review is late or if a potential reviewer hasn’t
responded to a request.
Editors have the following options concerning delinquent reviewers:
• Suggest a new reviewer: Choose a new reviewer from the Master List of Reviewers or author
list.
• Remind reviewer: If the due date is approaching or has passed, use this option to send a
reminder.
• Revise report due date: Choose revise due date to specify a new report deadline.
• Give up on a reviewer: Choose give up to indicate that a review is no longer expected from
the reviewer. The system will notify the reviewer and cease reminding him/her of the overdue
report.
So, this concludes the reviewer workflow for Digital Commons. Check out “The Peer Review Process”
section of the following helpful resources for additional information:
https://bepress.com/reference_guide_dc/managing-publishing-journals/
https://bepress.com/reference_guide_dc/journal-video-tutorials/
