Manuscripts are initially assigned to editors either manually or automatically. This is defined when the journal is set up in Snapp, and can be changed afterwards in consultation with your Publisher. Assigned editors receive an email to let them know that they have submissions, so that they can perform the suitability assessment.
Manual assignment
If your journal is set up with manual assignment, the lead editors (usually editors-in-chief) are notified of all new submissions to the journal. They can then assign each one to an appropriate handling editor. They can also assign to themselves.
Information is available to help with the selection of an editor, including:
- The topic area and keywords assigned to each editor (if provided)
- The number of submissions currently assigned to each editor
- The role assigned to each editor
- Information that the editor is currently unavailable (if provided)
Round-robin assignment
This means that manuscripts are automatically assigned equally to lead editors (usually editors-in-chief). If the journal has a single lead editor, all manuscripts will be automatically assigned to them, so that they can perform the suitability assessment. After this check, lead editors can reassign submissions to an appropriate handling editor.
Assignment by topic
Editors are each assigned a distinct topic, and authors choose from these topics on submission of their manuscript. Each editor can be assigned a single topic only, however more than one editor can have the same topic. Assignment to an editor is done based on matching these topics, either manually by the lead editor, or by the journal’s editorial assistant.
Assignment in collections and special issues
For submissions that are associated with a collection or special issue, assignment is always manual and can be done by either the lead editor or assigning editor for the collection, or the lead editor of the journal. They can see a list of guest editors working on the collection or special issue, if applicable, and a separate list of the journal’s editors.
Information is available to help with the selection of a guest editor, including:
- The number of submissions currently assigned to each editor
- The role assigned to each editor
- Information that the editor is currently unavailable (if provided)
