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Technology and Communication with Authors¹

¹ From the Radiological Society of North America, 820 Jorie Blvd, Oak Brook, Ill. Received November 1, 2004; accepted November 3. Address correspondence to the author (e-mail: jhumpal@rsna.org).

At the RSNA Publications Department, we have long made use of technology to help provide important scientific and educational material to our members and readers. Over 10 years ago, we switched from copyediting manuscripts with pencil and paper to doing so with the aid of computers and word processing programs.

In the past 5 years, Radiology has introduced numerous features that take advantage of advances in technology. In 1999, Radiology (radiology.rsnajnls.org) and RadioGraphics (radiographics.rsnajnls.org) were made available online through HighWire Press (Stanford, Calif). The online journals include the full text, images, and tables of the printed journals and allow additional material that cannot be reproduced in print, such as movies and audio. In 2001, Radiology introduced Continuous Publishing to the online Journal, which enabled publication of articles up to 7 weeks before the printed issue in which the articles will be published.

Other technology-driven services have been implemented for authors. In 2002, Radiology put into operation online submission and peer review of manuscripts, and in 2004 we implemented two mechanisms related to copyediting: (a) automated formatting of manuscripts and (b) electronic transmission of copyedited proofs of manuscripts and their attendant images and tables to authors for final correction and approval.

Online Submission and Peer Review
Radiology Manuscript Central (ScholarOne, Charlottesville, Va) is a customized Web-based system that enables authors to upload all components of their manuscripts. Radiology Manuscript Central automatically assigns a manuscript number to each submission and sends the corresponding author an e-mail acknowledging receipt of the submission. Once the submission is complete, staff at the Editorial Office solicit reviewers by means of e-mail. Reviewers can then download the manuscript and peruse it (by printing out hard copy or viewing on screen).

Further revision of the original paper is also handled through Manuscript Central. The final set of electronic files are sent to the publications office at RSNA Headquarters, where the text is copyedited, the figure arrays are constructed, and the tables are formatted.

Copyediting and Author Corrections
Accepted manuscripts are sent as Microsoft Word files (Microsoft, Redmond, Wash). The Word files are preprocessed by our production staff and uploaded to the Rapid Edit (Cadmus Communications, Richmond, Va) Web site. Rapid Edit automates formatting for article type, headings, and other features related to the final printed product. After processing, a formatted Word file is returned electronically to the Publications office for copyediting by our staff of manuscript editors.

Copyediting involves mechanical editing and editing for RSNA style. Mechanical editing is composed of corrections to spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Editing for style comprises checking of data to ensure that raw numbers and percentages are in agreement, all of the required information is present and appropriately located in the manuscript, and the language is clear enough to be understood by the Journal’s international readership. Thus, authors are asked to verify the changes to their revised submission; such queries are incorporated into the edited manuscript.

Meanwhile, image arrays and copyedited tables have been sent to our printer for scanning and typesetting, respectively. When these are returned to the Publications office, they are bundled with the copyedited manuscript and uploaded to a server at RSNA Headquarters. An e-mail is then sent to the corresponding author to notify him or her that the proofs are ready for review as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Authors are asked to check their proofs and return answers to queries and corrections within 3 days. In many cases, authors have been returning their corrections in 1 day or on the same day they received their proofs. Authors can respond by e-mailing, faxing, or even telephoning corrections directly to the manuscript editor who worked on the paper.

Service to Readers and Authors
There have been many good reasons to incorporate the services and features afforded by advances in technology over the years. All have involved an investment, at least initially, and most have resulted in substantial savings in time and money. The online submission and peer review process has not only eliminated the costs associated with mailing manuscripts among author, Editorial Office, and reviewers, it has also reduced the problems associated with mailing of packages of text and images, such as misdirected or delayed mail. Processing manuscripts prior to copyediting has eliminated the burden on manuscript editors of formatting manuscripts by hand, leaving more time for editors to devote to the important editing they perform. Providing PDF proofs to authors for corrections has led to a substantial reduction in both mailing costs and turnaround time: Before implementing the PDFs-to-authors system, the median turnaround time (the time from mailing of the edited manuscript to return of the author’s corrections) was 8 days. Now, the median turnaround is 4 days.

The benefits for authors are clear: Lower cost of electronic transmission at all stages of the publication process, faster turnaround time, and, with Continuous Publishing, an earlier publication date. The benefits to readers are also clear: Important scientific and clinical knowledge is transmitted more quickly and is available in various media.

At the RSNA Publications and Editorial Offices, we are always searching for ways to better serve our readers and the authors who labor to share their knowledge. Technology advances continuously, and we will continuously evaluate methods to exploit such advances to better serve you.

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