How do I create a custom type of decision?

When you've received a submission, read it, and are ready to share your decision and next steps with the author, the default decision options available for you to issue on Scholastica are: Reject, Revise & Resubmit, and Accept. If your journal's workflow includes issuing additional types of decisions beyond those three options — maybe a "Conditional Accept" or a "Reject with encouragement to resubmit" — or if you'd like to retitle those decisions to better fit your language (i.e. rename "Reject" to instead be "Decline to publish") your journal's admin editor can add custom types of decisions which your team can then use when issuing decisions to the authors.

What are the decision categories and what do they mean?

Accept

• This is a 'terminal' decision. This means that there are no built-in next steps or prompts for the author to take action. You'll manually explain any recommended or required next steps for the author in the body of the decision letter when issuing a decision of this category.
  • Tip: If you're issuing an Accept decision, but will still need the author to work with you on minor changes, copy-edits, etc. let the author know in the decision letter that they should send you their updated file(s) via Discussions.

Conditional Accept

• This decision type leaves room for the editors to manually follow up with the authors via Discussions until they've met all conditions required for a full accept. Scholastica will prompt your author to use Discussions to communicate with you and send you any updated files as needed by following the steps found here.
• Once the editorial team is satisfied that the author has made their requested changes, they'll then click "Issue final decision" to update the manuscript status to its final decision.

Revise & Resubmit

• This decision type has built-in next steps; Scholastica will prompt your author to submit their revision, when ready, by following the steps found here.
• You can optionally activate a revision deadline for any Revise & Resubmit decision type. When activated, editors issuing that type of R&R will be able to set a deadline and reminder frequency for the author's resubmission. Learn more about R&R deadlines here.

Reject

• This is a 'terminal' decision. This means that there are no built-in next steps or prompts for the author to take action. You'll manually explain any recommended or required next steps for the author in the body of the decision letter when issuing a decision of this category.

Creating a custom decision option

To create a new custom decision option, the admin editor for the journal will login to their account and navigate to My Journals   > Peer Review   > Peer Review Settings   > Decision Settings   > Decision Options   .

Journals are required to have at least one instance of Accept, Revise & Resubmit, and Reject. You can add up to five of each decision type and control the name of the decision.

To create a new decision option, click "Create new decision", then choose what category of decision this will be and give the new decision type a name. Please note that the author will see the decision name you've created when you issue a decision of that type to them.

Editing decision names

To edit the name of an existing decision type, the admin editor for the journal will login to their account and navigate to My Journals   > Peer Review Setting   > Decision Options   . They'll then click "Edit" next to the decision that they'd like to rename.

Deleting decision options

To delete an existing decision type, the admin editor for the journal will login to their account and navigate to My Journals   > Peer Review Settings   > Decision Options.   They'll then click "Delete" next to the decision that they'd like to remove.

• Note: Deleting a decision option does not delete issued decisions. Deleting a decision option just removes that option from the decision form so editors can no longer select it when issuing a decision in the future.