Manuscript Review and Status
The Editor-in-Chief reviews all submissions and makes an initial determination regarding suitability for publication. If an Associate Editor transfers a submitted manuscript from CM to JAALAS (or vice versa), the contact author will be notified by email and may opt to withdraw the manuscript from consideration.
Before being sent for peer review, newly submitted manuscripts are screened to ensure that the text, figures (charts, graphs, images), and tables comply with the criteria described in the Information for Authors.
All manuscripts undergo thorough peer review (including digital assessment for plagiarism prior to acceptance), typically by three reviewers with relevant experience. Selection of the panel of reviewers ultimately is the prerogative of the Associate Editor.
AALAS gives timely review the highest priority. Once all reviewers for a manuscript have been assigned, authors can check the status of their submission through Manuscript Central. Whether a manuscript is accepted, requires revisions, or is rejected for publication typically is decided within 4 weeks of being sent for review. To avoid publication delays, regularly verify and update authors’ contact information (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aalas-cm for CM manuscripts; http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aalas-jaalas for JAALAS manuscripts).
Changes requested by reviewers must be completed within 2 months or an extension requested (email journals@aalas.org or call the journals office at 901-754-8620). Without timely return of revisions or a request for extension, the manuscript will be withdrawn from the publication process.
Approximately 5 weeks before the slated publication date, the contact author receives a copyedited version of the manuscript, which will have undergone a final review by the Editor-in-Chief.
After any additional queries that arise during copyediting and final review are addressed satisfactorily, the contact author receives a PDF of the page proofs of the article. At this late stage in the publication process, only minor revisions can be accommodated.
Approved page proofs must be emailed to journals@aalas.org within 48 hours of receipt.
After publication, the manuscript will be submitted to PubMed Central for indexing. Articles will become available to the general public 6 months after publication.
