How to Submit a Decision to PLOS using Editorial Manager
Channel: PLOS Media
Date: 2015-08-06

This video shows PLOS ONE Editorial Board Members how to submit a decision on a manuscript in the Editorial Manager (EM) submission system.

To learn more about serving as an editor for PLOS ONE visit the Editorial Board Knowledge Base: https://one.editors.plos.org/

==INSTRUCTIONS==

From the Academic Editor main menu you'll find the manuscript in the "Submissions with Required Reviews Complete" folder. All papers with two or more completed reviews will be found here.

Hover over the action links in the left hand column of your manuscript and click  on the manuscript details. Before submitting you decision double check that all of your required reviews have been provided. 

If you submit a decision letter before a reviewer's deadline is up your reviewer may not have completed his or her review. Please do not terminate reviewers unless they are past their deadline, which is normally 10 days past their acceptance of the review invitation. Sometimes we may grant reviewers extensions, so its always good to check the reviewer deadline.

If ready to submit your decision go back to the main page within the "Submissions with Required Reviews Completed" folder. Click on the action links and select the "Submit Editor's Decision and Comments" link. This will open the decision page.

Select your decision from the drop down menu at the top of the page. The fields "Confidential Comments to Editor" and "Comments to Author" are intentionally left blank and should not have any text present. Do not write anything in either of these fields.

If you scroll a little further down you will see the reviewer forms from both reviewers, including their decision recommendations, their comments to the author, and any confidential comments to you as the Editorial Board Member.

Scan the reviewer comments and if you feel ready to continue submitting your decision hit "Proceed" and "Proceed" again.

Now, you're at the actual decision letter. Before you proceed delete the ALL CAPs text which begins with:

ACADEMIC EDITOR: PLEASE INSERT COMMENTS HERE

Include your own specific comments for the author in this space. Providing personalized comments is a very important part of the decision letter. You can also use this space to describe the review process noting, for example, how many reviewers advised on the submission, and which comments to address should there be a discrepancy between the reviewer assessments.

When providing a reject decision please use this space to apply our 7 Publication Criteria and to note which specific criteria where not upheld within the paper. (Remember, novelty, impact and niche topic areas are not valid reasons for rejection according to PLOS ONE's standards.)

Once you've finished composing your specific comments you can go ahead and click "Send Now." 

You will arrive at the Reviewer Notification Letters page. Go ahead and click "Send All Letters." Our decision letter has now been sent to the author, and our reviewers.

==USEFUL LINKS==

To make a decision now visit the PLOS ONE submission site at https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/default.aspx

To learn more about serving as an editor for PLOS ONE visit the website: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/guidelines-for-editors


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