Scholastica’s new technical checklist feature makes vetting incoming submissions easier.
In many ways, how a journal handles technical checks (a.k.a. quality checks) sets the tone for the rest of its editorial processes. When technical checks are drawn out, it can lead to delays down the line. On the other hand, when initial submission vetting is focused and expeditious, manuscripts move to the desk reject or peer review stage faster, and possible publication delays get nipped in the bud. That’s living the editorial dream!
At Scholastica, we know the key to establishing a smooth technical check process at any journal is for all editors to follow the same policies and procedures. So, we’ve added a new technical checklist feature to the Scholastica Peer Review System to help journals standardize their technical check workflows and ensure all editors can quickly tell the status of submissions as they go through the technical check phase. Read on to learn more!
How the new technical checklist feature works
With the new technical checklist feature, administrators of journals using the Scholastica Peer Review System can now create a custom technical checklist for incoming submissions, so their editors are always prompted to complete (and check off!) their journal’s required technical check review steps for all manuscripts.
Admins also have the option to require that their entire technical checklist be completed before editors can send reviewer invitations and/or issue decisions for manuscripts to ensure no one takes those steps prematurely.
Admin editors of journals using the Scholastica Peer Review System can set up a custom technical checklist for their journal by following the steps in this help document. They’ll have the option to create one list of technical check steps or group steps under designated category headers, such as by technical check type (e.g., publishing ethics) or responsible editor (as pictured above). They can also add instructional text as applicable.
Once the technical checklist feature is activated, the same checklist will display on all new submissions received after that point. All editors will see the standard technical checklist in the Editor Work Area of manuscripts they have access to, so they can mark off technical checklist steps they complete and monitor the progress of other editors working on the same paper.
Editors can see a history of which technical checklist items were completed, by whom, and in what order for any manuscript from the “Activity History” thread in the manuscript work area for that paper. If a check is marked complete by mistake, any editor can simply uncheck it to denote that that step is still in progress and then re-check it once done.
Editors of journals with the technical checklist feature enabled will also be able to filter their Manuscripts Table view by manuscript technical check status to quickly take individual or bulk actions on manuscripts based on their status.
Combine manual technical checks with submission form validations for faster review
Journals can reduce the number of technical check steps they need to complete by customizing their Scholastica submission form to require authors to complete necessary inputs with validated fields as applicable.
For example, if your journal needs ORCID IDs from authors, you can customize your submission form to require that field and Scholastica will automatically validate it for you. Or if your journal needs the submitting author to affirm that they’ve read and complied with stated ethical policies, you can add a required affirmation box to your submission form.
You can learn more about how to customize the Scholastica submission form in this help document.
Ready to learn more?
Establishing a technical checklist is a surefire way for editorial teams to speed up desk assessment for incoming manuscripts, get ahead of possible peer review delays caused by incomplete or incorrect submissions, and ensure all submissions comply with journal policies. So it’s well worth doing!
The new technical checklist feature is now available to all journals using the Scholastica Peer Review System. Learn more in this help document.
We also cover what to include in journal technical checks and how to optimize the process in this new Scholastica blog post guide!
We hope you found this feature overview blog post helpful! As always, if you have any questions that are not covered here, please feel free to contact us. If you’re not using Scholastica for peer review management and you’re interested in learning more about our software, you can request a personal demo with a member of our team here.
