Journal setting: Setting target number of reviewers for a manuscript

Imagine that you had a world-class, personal assistant who would sort through all of the submissions you're managing on your behalf and notify you of the ones that need your attention. At Scholastica, we offer a configuration option that offers a similar experience to help you easily identify manuscripts that may need your attention (e.g. to invite more reviewers or make a decision). 

Often journals set a target number of reviews they aim to receive before making a publication decision on a given manuscript. For example, a journal may set a target of 3 reviews, meaning they plan to receive at least 3 reviews before making a decision. Setting a target helps ensure all articles receive sufficient feedback before making a final publication decision.

Activating configuration option

To easily identify which manuscripts that have fewer than your "target" number of reviewers and manuscripts that are ready for a decision because they have the correct number of submitted reviews, you'll follow these steps:

  1. Log into Scholastica and navigate to My Journals > Settings > Journal Settings > Configuration Options
  2. Scroll down to the 'Journal Workflow Options' header
  3. Toggle on the configuration option shown below and titled "I want to receive at least __ reviews before making a decision"

Weekly email notification

Once you've turned on this configuration option, the assigned editor for that manuscript will receive an email once a week that looks similar to this:



The email includes sections (when applicable) for manuscripts that have fewer than the target number of active review invitations, manuscripts that have met the target number of reviews submitted and are still waiting on a decision, and manuscripts that have had no reviewers invited yet at all. 

Additional manuscript filtering and alerts

With this configuration option turned on, you'll also be able to more easily pull up the manuscripts that are ready for next steps.

The two filter options pull up the manuscripts that have fewer than the target number of  active reviewers or the manuscripts that have the target number of reviews submitted and are still waiting on a final decision (i.e. they are still listed as 'Under Review' in Scholastica). 
New filter options on manuscript table

Additional filters that are available when you toggle on the target number of reviewers configuration option

We've also removed a few 'clicks' from the process of checking a manuscript's review status with a pop-up box that you can access right on the manuscript table.

Just click the grey circle with a question mark in the 'Rating' column to pull up the full reviewer status details for that manuscript.
Reviewer status pop-up box

Review sub-statuses

No reviewers invited status

Under Review: No Reviewers Invited — This manuscript is awaiting a decision and has not yet had any reviewers invited.

Under Review: Need To Invite Reviewers — This manuscript is awaiting a decision and does not currently have enough  active  reviewer invitations to meet the target number of reviews.

Enough reviews submitted status

Under Review: Enough Reviews Submitted — This manuscript is awaiting a decision and has met the target number of reviews that you require before making a decision. 


Help your journal run more efficiently and reduce the risk of manuscripts slipping through the cracks! If you have any questions, please email us at support@scholasticahq.com .