How do I 'Desk Reject' a submission?

To reject an article prior to review, i.e. ‘desk reject’, an editor or section editor must first be assigned to the submission.

When assigned, the editor can desk reject the article by accessing the ‘Submission’ tab of the submission and clicking the ‘Decline Submission’ button on the right side of the page. This will result in a pop-up window appearing that displays the template desk reject email. The editor can edit this email prior to sending the decision to the author.

Note: there is also a ‘Decline Submission’ button on the ‘Review’ tab for each submission. It is also possible to reject an article via this button, however, this will count as a rejection from the review stage and will not count as a desk rejection (i.e. the former will assume some kind of review has been undertaken, whilst the latter will assume only a desk assessment has been completed). The email templates will be different depending on whether the ‘Decline Decision’ comes from the Submission or Review tab.