Common questions
What editorial offices
ask us first.
Anything not answered here is better answered about your particular title — [email protected].
01 Do you work to our style, or to yours?
Yours. House style, template, citation format and section conventions are the title’s, and an issue we produce should be indistinguishable from one produced in house.
Where the style exists in practice rather than in a document, we read what has already been published and follow it — and can write down what we found, so that the office has it for future use.
02 How do files reach you, and in what form do they come back?
In whatever form the editorial office already produces them. We fit an existing workflow rather than asking a journal to adopt ours.
Final files are delivered in the formats the publication process requires, agreed at the outset rather than discovered at delivery.
03 Who deals with our authors?
Where the proof round has been placed with us, we do — but the editorial office keeps the decision on every correction an author asks for. Nothing enters the final file without having been accepted, and nothing an author requested is dropped without having been seen.
Offices that prefer to keep author contact in house are of course free to do so; production and proofing can be separated.
04 What are your schedules?
Set against the title’s publication calendar and confirmed in the agreement between us, rather than quoted in the abstract. A schedule named before we have seen the material would not be worth relying on.
05 How is the work priced?
Against the actual scope for the actual title. Rates and the basis for them are set out in writing before any work begins, and they do not move without agreement.
06 Can you take on only part of the process?
Yes. Each capability stands on its own. Most offices begin with the part that is currently taking the most time, and extend the arrangement only if the first part has been worth it.
07 How is confidentiality handled?
Under the agreement with the publisher rather than under a promise on a website. Unpublished material is seen only by those working on it and is used for no other purpose.
08 What happens if production reveals a problem with a manuscript?
It is reported to the editorial office, with what we found, and the decision stays with the journal. Problems of research integrity are not ours to resolve and are never edited away.
09 Do you also work directly with authors?
Yes, where a journal refers them to us or an author approaches us independently — usually for language editing, translation or preparation before submission. That arrangement is between the author and ourselves, and the editorial office is not drawn into it unless it wishes to be.
10 How do we start?
Send a recent issue and the template, and say which part of the process is causing the most difficulty. What comes back is a specific proposal for that title.
Next step
Ask about your own title.
General answers only go so far. Send an issue and a question and you will get a specific reply.