OASIS is a service that helps editors follow a paper through the production process after it has been accepted for publication. Editors’ Update talks to an editor who has used OASIS for almost a decade, to find out how it has helped her and what the latest version promises.

“My experience with OASIS has been absolutely positive,” says Charlotte Seidman, Managing Editor of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM), the leading international peer-reviewed journal for prevention science, education, practice and policy. Charlotte manages the flow of papers, from submission to publication.

When she first started, she used a teacher’s record book as a tracking system, assigning each paper a tracking number and following each through the process. Initially, she received a monthly verbal report, indicating that all the papers she had sent had been received and logged in. Later, a monthly written report was developed, which she didn’t always receive.

“I first heard about OASIS about a decade ago,” Seidman recalls. “I’ve been a regular user ever since. The program has saved us many lost workdays, as I would sometimes find that a paper we had sent had not been logged in (i.e., it was lost in the system somewhere). Once I’ve notified production, they can track down the problem and enter the paper into the system. This keeps all the papers for an issue together and helps to avoid ‘catch-up’ with the lost papers.”

Latest version
“I’ve been more than impressed playing around with the latest iteration of OASIS, and see great uses for it here,” Seidman says. “‘How OASIS Works’ is a must for anyone new to the system. I particularly like the feature that allows me to decide how I like to see the list displayed when I first open the program. In the past, there was one way of viewing, and no flexibility for complex searches. Most importantly, navigating is easy – and intuitive.”

New features
Version 1.1 was launched in June, with some new functionalities: OASIS will display the ‘date of submission’ and ‘date of acceptance’; the date of ‘uncorrected proofs online’, ‘corrected proofs online’, and ‘article online’ will be shown, with a link to the actual proofs or article in ScienceDirect.

“This will help to maintain a seamless workflow, using OASIS as a supplement to an Editorial Manager,” Seidman explains. “It’ll also enable staff to know where to find tracking information – a time-saver for people who track papers in editorial offices.”

Seidman thinks OASIS could be useful for journal staff that set goals for themselves. “Being able to track your progress in shortening the time from submission to production is a great motivator to do better.”

Elsevier.com
Seidman also recommends clicking into the Editors’ Home (from the ‘How OASIS Works’ screen), where you’ll find a navigation bar with a list of interesting topics, including ‘supporting editors’, ‘supporting authors’, and ‘supporting reviewers’. She loves the guide for newly appointed editors, written by a veteran editor. Editors can help authors and reviewers online too. “Directing them to these resources will help the editorial office staff do a better job – and make the publishing process run smoother,” Seidman says. “One of the biggest benefits is that it can be used for more than just tracking manuscripts.”

You can use the reports and FAQs to orient new office staff (or update current staff) to Elsevier’s practices and policies. The new Reviewers’ Home provides a teaching tool for reviewers who don’t quite ‘get it’, which could really improve the quality of reviews. Seidman continues: “The author’s site could be equally important, especially for foreign-language papers. I think it will help non-English writers improve their papers before submission. The authors’ site leads to ‘all Elsevier journal home pages for author instructions’. This saves authors time; instead of having to contact each editorial office - or search for them online - the journals are all listed in one place.”

To cite this article, please use: Karin Engelbrecht, “A sweet oasis for editors”, Elsevier Editors’ Update, Issue 23, August 2008

Useful Links
  OASIS information on Elsevier.com
  How OASIS Works
  Elsevier.com Editors’ Home
  Elsevier.com Reviewers’ Home