What's new in EES

Elsevier Editorial System (EES) has become a daily ‘tool of the trade’ for many Elsevier editors. It simplifies and speeds up article submission, and automates much of the communication associated with the editorial workflow.  E-Submission Implementation and Support (ESIS) Training Manager, Catriona Fennell, told us about the new features in version 3.1, out now, and version 4.0, due in Summer 2006.

Customizable fields
“An improvement that editors will benefit from right away with version 3.1,” explains Fennell, “is the possibility of journal–specific questions for the author that can be set as prerequisites for the submission of a paper.” For example, authors can be asked to confirm that their work is original and that their work is not being considered for publication elsewhere. Editors can now create standard questions like these that authors must answer before being allowed to submit a paper. A field can be added allowing/requiring authors to suggest reviewers also.

Improved search capability
In EES version 4.0, editors will be able to search Scopus® automatically for possible reviewers. Using the search feature, editors will also be able to search for duplicate papers, similar papers, and their citations. Searching the author’s name, editors will be able to do a rapid check of the author’s background. “We are really pleased with the addition of Scopus to the search capabilities available from EES. We hope that this link will add another dimension to EES,” adds Fennell.

Access to Scopus
Editors will have a button on their EES homepage taking them straight into a search on Scopus. Editors will be able to search for the submission’s title, the author’s name, the abstract text, keywords, or classifications. Reviewers will have access to Scopus also while they are reviewing, giving them a tangible reward for the work they do for the journal. The initial functionality allows text typed into a search field to be searched on Scopus. More advanced capability, allowing for one-click searches, will follow with version 4.0. “Access to Scopus will be made available early in 2006,” explains Fennell. “We plan to add the basic link to Scopus as soon as possible, with a more integrated link available later as part of version 4.0.”

Ad hoc communication
In EES now, milestone or signpost events or activities trigger automatic email messages: assignment of a reviewer to a paper, acceptance of a paper for review, decision on whether or not to publish a paper, and so on. Copies are stored in the EES History section, for the editor’s records. Messages associated with activities outside the usual signposts, such as a reviewer’s request for more time, however, can be sent only by replying to an email message, and no record is kept of them unless the editor adds a remark to the Manuscript’s Notes section.

In EES version 4.0, a wider choice of email messages can be generated outside of key events, and appropriate recipients selected. For example: reviewers can email editors to request more time; editors can email authors to explain delays in the review process. The ad hoc email message will be sent and a copy added to the submission’s History section. Clicking the History button will display all the correspondence for the submission, including items outside the norm. In addition, you will be able to re-send any letter from the History section.

Customizable thank-you’s and invitations
As it works now, EES sends a standardized, automated thank-you email message to reviewers. In version 4.0, editors will be able to customize an additional reviewer thank-you email when a decision is made on the paper, putting more flexibility at their discretion. “We often hear from editors that they would like to thank reviewers more effectively. So we put this ‘thank you’ more firmly in their hands,” explains Fennell.

You will also be able to create and store multiple customized reviewer invitations on EES, as well. With this improvement, editors will be able to select the appropriate invitation type for each situation. For example: a different reviewer invitation for revised manuscripts or for different Article Types.

Online interactive training
Coming in December 2005, supplemental online interactive training for EES will be made available to editors. Editors will be able to refresh their knowledge or start learning EES in their own time. Editors will be able also to select the specific module they want to learn rather than sit through material they already know. “We think it is a good way either for new users to get up to speed quickly,” says Fennell, “Or for established users to add advanced features to their workflow routine.”

New call-tracking system
From February 2006, our global support team will start to use a new call-tracking system with a view to improving customer service even further. This will record a customer’s previous queries and therefore help the team to offer more personalized support. Along with the new online training, the idea is to ensure that editors are getting the maximum possible benefit from EES.

Feedback welcome
“We are enthusiastic about the feedback we get from editors and want to know what they think, either about EES or about the new online interactive training,” explains Fennell. “So much of EES’s development has come out of suggestions and queries from editors. We want to keep improving these tools so that they work the way editors want them to.”

Encouraging ethics
Editors will be pleased to notice that their calls for EES to incorporate something to help discourage plagiarism among authors have been heard. Philippe Terheggen, Elsevier’s Director of Editorial Services, says, “A new feature available from mid-December means that for each new submission the author must accept the guidelines for Ethics in Publishing: Instructions to Author [link to quick reference section]. The author is requested to read the text in a pop-up window and needs to tick a checkbox to accept these instructions.”

Previously, many journals have had their own procedures or forms for authors to sign to show they are aware of their ethical responsibilities. “But chasing authors for these forms takes editors a lot of time and effort,” Terheggen points out. “Editors will find that this new feature in EES will mean they no longer have to check if authors have agreed to these guidelines – only authors who have agreed to the guidelines will be able to submit papers.” Terheggen reports that further tools to help curb plagiarism are in the pipeline. Editors’ Update will bring you news of these developments in 2006.

For editors seeking help with EES, general assistance is available on your EES site behind the ‘Help?’ button and EES 24/7 telephone support is always available.

24/7 telephone support for EES queries:

• US and Canada: (+1)-888-834-7287 (toll-free for US & Canadian customers)
• Asia and Pacific: +81 3 5561 5032
• Europe and the rest of the world: +353 61 709190

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Please send responses to this article to EditorsUpdate@elsevier.com