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Mycologia jumps into online publishing

Mycologia is moving to a Web-based manuscript submission and peer-review system, which will go online January 1, 2004. This leap is the last step in a two-year-long quest to find the right system for Mycologia, and it's the first step toward making our publishing process more efficient, accommodating and accessible to authors, editors and reviewers worldwide.

Authors soon will be able to submit manuscripts to Mycologia from any Internet-connected computer, with any operating system and any platform, anywhere in the world, day or night. The system allows authors to check the status of their papers and add updates from any Internet connection. The only software required is Adobe Acrobat Reader (available free of charge from www.adobe.com).

	ALLEN PRESS GETS NOD FROM MSA

TOP ALLEN PRESS GETS NOD... SUBMITTING PAPERS TO MYCOLOGIA A PAPERLESS SYSTEM

 
AllenTrack, the system Mycologia will be using, was developed by eJournalPress in Bethesda, Maryland, and is maintained by Allen Press Inc. in Lawrence, Kansas. Allen Press typesets and prints Mycologia, as well as scientific, technical and medical journals, books, online publications and CD-ROMs for more than 300 other organizations. Allen Press has been in business since 1935 and printed its first scientific journal—The Wilson Bulletin, an ornithological journal the company still produces today—in 1952. The Mycological Society of America and Allen Press signed the papers for AllenTrack this summer.

The online system will save paper, money and time. Authors will be able to submit manuscripts in minutes, without making a trip to the post office or calling for a courier pickup.

Access to the system is controlled by login and user privileges, so authors can be assured their papers will not be accessible to anyone but those authorized to see them. For example, associate editors will have access only to the papers they are assigned. Reviewer access also will be limited.

	SUBMITTING PAPERS TO MYCOLOGIA

TOP ALLEN PRESS GETS NOD... SUBMITTING PAPERS TO MYCOLOGIA A PAPERLESS SYSTEM

 
The Website.—Go to http://mycologia.allentrack.net. This page will welcome you to Mycologia's online manuscript submission and review system. The first time you use the system, you'll register for an account and be assigned a login name and password; you'll use your login and password every time you return to the site to check on the status of your paper or attend to a task.

Choices.—You'll have two: one lets you submit a paper and the other provides guidelines for authors. (Take a look at those guidelines; they'll save you time and help you make the best use of the system.) After you submit a paper, you'll have a third option that links you to information concerning your submission.

Files converted to PDF.—Once your files are uploaded to the database, they are converted to PDF files that can be viewed, downloaded and printed. Most word-processing formats (e.g., MSWord, WordPerfect, text, Postscript and rich text format) are convertible. Figures can be uploaded in JPEG, TIFF, GIF, EPS, PDF or Postscript formats. Higher resolution, publication-quality figures are not required for submission and review. However, if your paper is accepted for publication, you'll be asked to deliver the final version of your figures in specific formats that ensure high-quality and accurate publication. Mycologia therefore recommends creating your figures from the get-go with publication in mind.

Confirmation will be required.—The system will ask you to confirm that the files have converted correctly; check those files to ensure the system converted each element properly. (Even if you submit your manuscript as a PDF file, you still should check to ensure the files open correctly.) Your paper will be considered officially submitted only after the system receives your confirmation.

Those red arrows.—As you go through the steps, keep an eye out for red arrows. These will indicate that you need to take action on something.

Saving time.—Converting most files takes 5–10 minutes but, as we all know, a large file, such as one of a complex figure, sometimes takes longer. Conversion time also depends on the speed of your connection. In any case, the time saved by the new system makes up for any delay in uploading files. No more making multiple copes of your text and figures, packaging your manuscript and shipping to the Mycologia Editorial Office. The system also saves time during the review process. No three-week wait for your paper to get to that expert in Australia!

Ready for review.—Once a manuscript is in the system, the Editorial Office will assign a tracking number and an associate editor; the manuscript then will enter the peer-review process.

	A PAPERLESS SYSTEM

TOP ALLEN PRESS GETS NOD... SUBMITTING PAPERS TO MYCOLOGIA A PAPERLESS SYSTEM

 
The all-electronic system improves accessibility. Searching online archives, the ability to link to references as you read and instant distribution worldwide make journals ever more useful to researchers. The benefits also extend to online submissions. Mycologia routinely receives manuscripts from such distant countries as South Africa, India and China. Shipping stacks of manuscript pages to Mycologia from these locations has been expensive, time consuming and unreliable. With AllenTrack, files will be at your fingertips almost instantly.

Write to us; we can help. If you have questions about AllenTrack after reading the guidelines, please contact either Joan W. Bennett, Mycologia editor-in-chief, or John Donahue, assistant editor, at mycology@tulane.edu. We look forward to working with you using this new system.

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