Emerald Manuscript Central Support

Author Guide

Logging In to Your Author Centre.....................................................................................2

Forgotten your Password?...............................................................................................2
The Welcome page.........................................................................................................2
The Author Centre..........................................................................................................3
The Manuscript Submission Process..................................................................................3
Step 1 – Type, Title and Abstract..................................................................................3
Step 2 – Keywords......................................................................................................3
Step 3 – Authors and Institutions..................................................................................4
Step 4 – Details and Comments....................................................................................4
Step 5 – File Upload....................................................................................................4
Step 6 – Review and Submit........................................................................................5
How to submit a revision.................................................................................................5
Step 1 – Authors response to reviewers’ comments.........................................................5
Step 2 – Type, Title and Abstract..................................................................................6
Step 3 – Keywords......................................................................................................6
Step 4 – Authors and Institutions..................................................................................6
Step 5 – Details and Comments....................................................................................6
Step 6 – File Upload....................................................................................................6
Step 7 – Review and Submit........................................................................................7
Approved papers............................................................................................................7
Emerald’s Copyright Policy..............................................................................................7
Logging In to Your Author Centre

Each journal's Manuscript Central site has a unique web address (URL). Typically, you are
given that address in an email sent by the journal. If the address is hyperlinked, simply click
the link within the email, or you can enter the web address in the address field of your
browser and press the enter key on your keyboard. The URL will also be listed in the Author
Guidelines which can be found on the journal homepage.

Please note:

If you have an account on one journal you will still need to register on another site, but you
can use the same username and password. To create your account:
 Log on to the journals manuscript central site
 Click on the create account link at the top right of the screen.
 Follow the on-screen instructions, filling in the requested details before proceeding
 Your username will be your email address and you have to input a password of at least 8
characters in length and containing two or more numbers
 Click 'Finish' and your account has been created

To keep your account information current, use the Edit Account link in the upper right corner
(Create Account changes to Edit Account after your account is created). You can also change
your User ID and password here. In some cases, the journal may have already created an
account for you. When this happens, you will receive an e-mail with your username and a
temporary password.

Please note:

Please retain your new password information. For security reasons Manuscript Central will not
send your password via email.

You can log out of Manuscript Central at any time by clicking Log Out at the top right corner of
the page you are on. You will be returned to the Log In page.

Forgotten your Password?

Should you lose your password, enter your email address in the Password Help field and click
Go. The system will send an email containing a temporary password and instructions for
resetting your password. (Please note that your temporary password is only valid for 48
hours)

The Welcome page

When you log in, you are taken to the welcome page. Here you see links to all of the centres
you have permission for in this journal. Typically, authors are given both Author and Reviewer
permissions, although this varies by journal.

To access your author dashboard page, click the Author Centre button. Your author dashboard
page opens.

Instructions and Forms

Access journal-specific Instructions and Forms by clicking the link in the Resources box. The
Instructions and Forms link is also available on each page by clicking the tab in the upper right
corner of the page. This section contains useful information for authors and reviewers.

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The Author Centre

Through the author centre, you can submit a new manuscript or track the status of any
previous submissions, either as main author or as co-author.

Click the appropriate queue name in the My Manuscripts section. The information will display
at the bottom of the page.

The Manuscript Submission Process

To begin the submission process, click the star icon in the Author Resources
Section.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• Each journal can ask for different pieces of information and different required fields from the
example shown in this guide. Journal-required fields are denoted by a red req symbol.
• Journals may vary the requirements based on manuscript type.
• Always follow journal instructions carefully when submitting manuscripts.

How to Submit a Manuscript:

Step 1 – Type, Title and Abstract

1. Manuscript type: select from the drop-down list of choices

2. Title: Enter a manuscript title or copy and paste one in

Click the Special Characters icon to insert any special characters
Click the Preview icon to preview the title

3. Abstract: Enter the abstract in the structured abstract format . Cut and paste into the fields.
For instructions on how to write a structured abstract please go to Instructions & Forms.

4. Click Save and Continue to move to Step 2

Step 2 – Keywords

Keywords are required for manuscript submission. You can either choose from a list of
keywords provided or enter your own.

1. Search on this list: Enter a keyword and click Search. A popup box displays keywords to
match your search. Select the checkbox to mark the search as case-sensitive. Select the
keyword(s) and click Add

2. To add a keyword to your manuscript submission, select a word from the list box and click
Add. The selected keywords display in the fields to the right. Where possible we recommend
that you add at least 2 keywords from this list.

3. If you are unable to find a keyword in the dropdown list you can type your own keyword(s)
in the list on the right hand side.

4. Click Save and Continue to move to Step 3

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Step 3 – Authors and Institutions

Enter or confirm your name and institution information and add any co-authors and their
information.

1. First check to see if a co-author already has an author account. To do this, type in their e-
mail address and click the Find button. All matching details are displayed. Click Add to my
authors. If your information is pre-filled, verify it for accuracy. (Click the Edit icon to edit the
information.)

2. If no author account already exists, enter co-author information in the fields. Click the
Special Characters icon to insert any special characters. If you are not the corresponding
author, you can mark which author is.

3. Click Add to my authors. The co-author displays in the My Authors section with your name.

4. Repeat steps 2 – 4 for all authors. Once all authors are added, you can amend the order in
which they are displayed by changing the numbers on the far left of the My Authors box.

5. Click Save and Continue to move to Step 4.

Step 4 – Details and Comments

This page is journal-specific includes an area for a cover letter, as well as any other required
submission information.

1. Cover Letter: This is optional. You can submit a cover letter in one of 3 ways:
• Type your cover letter in the text field
• Paste an existing cover letter into the field
• You can browse to and attach an existing file.

2. Other sections: Complete the fields as indicated.

3. Selecting an issue to submit to: If your journal has regional editors, they will be listed here
by name and by region. It is important that you choose the editor from the region you are
submitting from – unless you are submitting to a special issue.

If you are submitting to a special issue, select this issue from the dropdown list.

If neither option is available, select Regular issue

4. Click Save and Continue to move to Step 5.

Step 5 – File Upload

In this step you will upload all of your manuscript files.

1. File Upload: Click Browse to locate a file and select it for upload. (The maximum size limit
for file upload is 60 MB)

2. File Type: Select from the dropdown list of choices.

3. Click Upload files. It is recommended that you upload no more than 3 files at a time
(although you can upload more files by repeating steps 1 – 3). If the files are very large, the
server may timeout preventing uploading. You will not be able to upload the following file
types: exe, com, vbs, zip, docx For preferred file types please check the journal guidelines.

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4. You must upload 2 files: an anonymous article file (it must contain no author information)
and a separate title page (which contains all author contact information).

5. During upload, a Details popup window displaying file attributes appears for each file.
- Click Next to move to the next file.
- For image/figure files, name the file to link to the same name as it has in the main document
(e.g. Figure 1). You can also insert a caption/legend beneath it.
- Click Save at the end of the file upload process.

Files display in the My Files section. You can change the order of the files and edit details.

6. Click Save and Continue to move to Step 6.

Step 6 – Review and Submit

This is a final review step before submitting your manuscript. All sections must display the
green checkmark before you can click Submit to complete the submission process.

1. Review each section carefully for accuracy and completeness. A green tick appears next to
each item that has been completed correctly according to the journal’s standards. A red cross
indicates that you need to complete required fields. A yellow box at the end of this column
details the exact error.

Click Edit in the right column to return to that step.

2. The final step is to view the PDF version of your submission by clicking on the PDF button.
Please check the file carefully to make sure that it is complete and correct. The title page will
not show in the PDF, but all figure files uploaded should.

3. Click Submit. The system asks for confirmation of the submission. Click OK to submit the
manuscript. You will receive a successful submission confirmation along with your manuscript
ID number.

The manuscript displays in the Submitted Manuscripts column of your dashboard.

How to submit a revision

Log on to the online submission site and, in the 'Author Centre', click on 'Manuscripts with
Decisions' under 'My Manuscripts'. You will then see a list of all manuscripts you have
submitted where the editors have been able to make a decision.

Find the manuscript you wish to revise and click on the link 'create a revision' in the 'Actions'
column. This will initiate a revised-submission process that prompts you to respond to the
points made by the Editors and/or reviewers.

Continue to follow the seven-step submission process, providing information when prompted.

Step 1 – Authors response to reviewers’ comments

This is compulsory. You should state clearly how you have addressed all reviewers’ comments
referring directly to the reviewers’ comments. Please do not add any information which could
identify any of the authors as this information is sent to the reviewers if re-review is required.

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Step 2 – Type, Title and Abstract

Unless specifically requested to do so by the Editor or reviewers you will not need to make
changes to this section.

Click Save and Continue to move to Step 3

Step 3 – Keywords

Unless specifically requested to do so by the Editor or reviewers you will not need to make
changes to this section.

Click Save and Continue to move to Step 4

Step 4 – Authors and Institutions

Enter or confirm your name and institution information and add any co-authors and their
information. Importantly, if any of the authors have changed their contact details please
update their details.

Click Save and Continue to move to Step 5.

Step 5 – Details and Comments

Unless specifically requested to do so by the Editor or reviewers you will not need to make
changes to this section.

Click Save and Continue to move to Step 6.

Step 6 – File Upload

The files from your original submission will be carried over. Before you upload your
revised files DELETE the original files.

1. File Upload: Click Browse to locate a file and select it for upload. (The maximum size limit
for file upload is 60 MB)

2. File Type: Select from the dropdown list of choices.

3. Click Upload files. It is recommended that you upload no more than 3 files at a time
(although you can upload more files by repeating steps 1 – 3). If the files are very large, the
server may timeout preventing uploading. You will not be able to upload the following file
types: exe, com, vbs, zip, docx For preferred file types please check the journal guidelines.

4. You must upload 2 files: an anonymous article file (it must contain no author information)
and a separate title page (which contains all author contact information).

5. During upload, a Details popup window displaying file attributes appears for each file.
Click Next to move to the next file.
Click Save at the end of the file upload process.
For image/figure files, name the file to link to the same name as it has in the main document.
You can also insert a caption/legend beneath it.

Files display in the My Files section. You can change the order of the files and edit details.

6. Click Save and Continue to move to Step 7.

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Step 7 – Review and Submit

This is a final review step before submitting your manuscript. All sections must display the
green checkmark before you can click Submit to complete the submission process.

1. Review each section carefully for accuracy and completeness. A green tick appears next to
each item that has been completed correctly according to the journal’s standards. A red cross
indicates that you need to complete required fields. A yellow box at the end of this column
details the exact error.

Click Edit in the right column to return to that step.

2. The final step is to view the PDF version of your submission by clicking on the PDF button.
Please check the file carefully to make sure that it is complete and correct. The title page will
not show in the PDF, but all figure files uploaded should.

3. Click Submit. The system asks for confirmation of the submission. Click OK to submit the
manuscript. You will receive a successful submission confirmation along with your manuscript
ID number. The ID will now have .R1 to indicate that it is a first revision (.R2 for second
revision etc)

The manuscript displays in the Submitted Manuscripts column of your dashboard.

Please note:

Once you begin a revision, it moves into the "Revised Manuscripts in Draft" queue in the My
Manuscripts section of your author dashboard. To continue, click the link and then click the
"Continue Submission" icon in the manuscript display at the bottom of the page.

You must submit the revision within the specified deadline. If you do not think you will
be able to do this you must ask the Editor for an extension. Once the deadline has passed you
will not be able to submit a revision and may have to submit your paper as a new submission.
If the Editor agrees to an extension, you will be able to proceed with the revision as outlined
above.

Approved papers

When your paper is accepted for publication you will be e-mailed to let you know. Your paper
will move to the Manuscripts with Decisions section of your author centre. You will also be
asked to complete an online copyright form. A link to this form is with the paper in your author
centre.

All authors on the paper will be sent the copyright form and we recommend that all authors
complete the form online, however, we only require the submitting author to complete the
copyright form. The information on the copyright form will be used to send the author the
published version of their paper and therefore it is imperative that we have full and correct
contact details.

If for any reason you are not able to complete the copyright form, please contact the journal
Publisher – their details are on the journal homepage on the Editorial Team page.

Emerald’s Copyright Policy

Emerald Group Publishing Limited seeks to retain copyright of the articles it publishes, without
the author giving up their rights to use their own material. Authors are not required to seek

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permission to re-use their own work. As an author you can use your paper in part or in full,
including figures and tables (except where copyright is owned by a third party, in which case
you must seek permission again) if you want to do so in a book, in another article written for
us or another publisher, on your website, or any other use, without asking us first. We believe
that this copyright policy benefits our authors by ensuring that we can:
 Develop our electronic publications and their delivery to meet customer needs and create
maximum dissemination of authors' work
 Protect authors' moral rights and their work from plagiarism, unlawful copying and any
other infringement of copyright
 Recoup copyright fees from Reproduction Rights Organisations to reinvest in new initiatives
and author/user services. Emerald Publishing Group Limited will provide a research
grant/award of 25% of copyright fee revenue up to £25,000 per annum to its author
community. Emerald is registered with The Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK and The
Copyright Clearance Center in the USA.
 Provide an efficient service for permissions