How do I submit my article?
In order to submit a manuscript, go to the journal homepage and click on ‘Account’ at the top right corner. When you are logged in, you click on ‘New Submission’.
You are taken to a new screen with five tabs/steps. You proceed progressively from one to the next.
1. Start
Firstly, choose the appropriate journal section for your submission. The dropdown menu lists all journal sections that are available.
If the journal uses special collections, these are also listed here. If your submission is for one of these special collections, please select it. If your submission is a general one, you can ignore this field.
You will then see a submission checklist. All journal requirements are listed here, and you must confirm that you have adhered to them in order to proceed.
A text box for Comments for the Editor follows. This is in place of a cover letter. Add your comments here and remember to address the points raised in the legend of the text box.
Following this are check boxes confirming that you agree to be the corresponding author on your submission, and checkboxes regarding copyright notice and data collection policy. You need to agree with these statements in order to proceed.
Please click on ‘Save and Continue’ in order to proceed. If you click on ‘Cancel’, your submission will not be saved.
If you need to pause your submission and continue later, please click ‘Save and Continue’. When you move on to the next step you can then click ‘Cancel’, and the previous step will be saved.
2. Upload Submission
At Step 2 you upload your submission files. Start by clicking on ‘Add File’ or ‘Upload File’. By clicking either option, a new overlay opens where you can choose a file from your computer. Once the file is uploaded it appears in a list where you have the option to mark it as manuscript, figure, or other.
By choosing ‘Other’ a longer list of options appears, including ‘Response to Reviewers’, for example. Clicking on ‘Edit’ allows you to change the filename.
If you have uploaded the wrong file and need to remove it, click ‘Remove’. You can upload as many files as necessary by clicking on ‘Add File’. Remember to click on ‘Save and continue’ when you are done.
3. Enter Metadata
At step 3 you are required to add the submission metadata starting from the title, the abstract, contributors’ names, emails and roles, keywords, preferred and excluded reviewers, competing interests, and funding information. Remember to click ‘Save and Continue’ when you are done.
4. Confirmation
At Step 4, you finalise and confirm your submission. Please check that the information and files in Steps 1-3 are correct. Then return to Step 4 and click ‘Finish Submission’ when ready.
When you click ‘Finish Submission’ a pop-up question asks you to confirm that you are sure that you wish to submit. Click ‘OK’ to complete the submission.
5. Next Steps
Step 5 confirms that your submission is complete and informs you about the next steps.
Your submission will appear in “My Queue” (see below) until a decision has been made by the Editor:
