Review Process

The manuscript submission and peer-review process is broken down into the following steps:

1. The Author submits a manuscript through the online system.
2. The Editor-in-Chief receives the new manuscript and assigns potential Monitoring Editors (2-3 days*).
3. The Monitoring Editor accepts and assigns potential reviewers to the manuscript (2-3 days*).
4. The CBE-LSE Editorial Office contacts potential reviewers and they accept or decline the invitation to review the manuscript (at least 2 reviewers for Articles, only 1 reviewer for Essays; 3-5 days*).
5. After accepting a manuscript, reviewers are given a 2-week deadline in which to submit their review.
6. The Monitoring Editor makes the final decision and a letter is sent to the author via email (2-5 days*). In the case of conflicting reviews, the Monitoring Editor may seek a third reviewer.

Submission Process

The manuscript submission process is broken into a series of five screens that gather detailed information about your manuscript and allow you to upload the pertinent files. The sequence of screens is as follows:

1. A form asking for author, title, abstract, and file quantities. You must also choose what type of manuscript you are submitting i.e., Article, Essay, Feature, Letter to the Editor, Response (a Response can be submitted by invitation only; follow the link in your invitation e-mail).
2. A screen asking for the actual file locations (via an open file dialog between our system and your computer).
3. A screen asking you to choose the order of the files you have uploaded, and whether or not to include them in a merged PDF for easy viewing. The order you choose is the order in which the files will appear on the screen throughout the review process. After completing this screen, your files will be uploaded to our server and converted into PDFs.
4. A completion screen that will provide you with a specific manuscript number for your reference on all correspondence.
5. An approval screen that will allow you to verify that your manuscript uploaded and converted into PDFs correctly. The submission is not official until you Approve all files (see "Approval" section below for more information).

Before submitting a manuscript, please gather the following information:

• All Authors':
  • First and Last Names
  • Postal Addresses
  • Work Telephone Numbers
  • Fax Numbers
  • E-mail Addresses
• Title and Running Title (you can cut and paste this from your manuscript).
• Abstract (you can cut and paste this from your manuscript up to 200 words). There is a 200-word limit for the Abstract within the data table.
• The name(s) of any Preferred Monitoring Editor(s) from the CBE-LSE Editorial Board.
• The name(s) and email addresse(s)/institution(s) of any Preferred Reviewer(s).
• Manuscript files in either Word, Text, or RTF format. PLEASE CHECK ALL FILES FOR VIRUSES BEFORE UPLOADING.
• Table files should be uploaded separately
• Figures/Images should be formatted as either TIFF or EPS format and submitted as separate files. The system will automatically merge all files into one PDF; please do not submit your own merged PDF.
• Videos must be submitted in .mov, .mpg, or .avi formats and readable on both PC and MAC systems.
• If your Feature or Letter to the Editor does not contain a required field (such as Abstract), just type in some filler words.

  Approval

  After the manuscript files have been submitted, you will be taken to a screen that will allow you to review your converted PDF files. This is the final step before the submission is official. If the conversion is not correct, you can replace or delete your manuscript files as necessary. After you have reviewed the converted files, you will need to click on "Approve Manuscript." This link will have a red arrow next to it. Then your submission is complete and the review process can begin.

  Getting Help

  If you need additional help, you can click on the help signs spread throughout the system (a Help dialog box will pop up with context-sensitive help instructions), or you can email the CBE-LSE Editorial Office at cbe@ascb.org or call 301-347-9304. We are able to access your manuscript files at any time before, during, or after the submission and review process.

  Manuscript Status

  After you approve your manuscript, you are finished with the submission. You can check on the status of your manuscript at any time:

  1. Log into the system with your username and password.
  2. Click on the link represented by your manuscript tracking number and abbreviated title.
  3. Click on the "Check Status" link at the bottom of the displayed page.
  This procedure will display detailed tracking information about where your manuscript is in the submission/peer-review process.

  Getting Started

  The manuscript submission process starts by pressing the "Submit Manuscript" link on your "Home" page. Please make sure you have gathered all the required manuscript information listed above BEFORE starting the submission process.

  Please press HOME to continue.