Attach Files

Next, you will be asked to attach all of the files associated with your submission.

Some Journals accept information offline or outside of their EM websites (e.g., e-mail, postal mail, or fax).  If you are offered the option of selecting either ‘Online Web System’ or ‘Offline’, then click the appropriate button.

For each Item you want to upload into the system:

-  Choose the Item from a drop-down box.  Manuscript, figures or tables may all be separate Items in the drop-down box, as the Items listed may vary with each Journal Office. Make sure to choose the correct one.

-  Enter a Description in the text box (i.e., Figure 1, Table 2, etc.)

-  Select the Delivery Method by which the Item will reach the Journal Office (online or offline).

-  The option of online or offline may not always be available since the Journal may require the Item to be submitted online only.

-  Locate the file on your hard drive using the ‘Browse’ button.

-  Authors may attach files to their submission that have been ‘compressed’ (i.e. zip files).  This allows Authors to upload several files at once, rather than having to upload one file at a time.  It also enables a faster upload of a large single file.  The system will automatically ‘unpack’ or ‘un-zip’ the file, so that the individual file(s) can be attached to the submission.  There is more information regarding the upload of compressed files at the end of this section.

-  Click ‘Attach This File’ to upload the file (uploading may take several minutes for larger files), and the following window should appear:

For Items to be sent offline, please select the Item from the drop-down menu, click the ‘Offline’ Delivery Method, and then click ‘Attach This File’.  The Item will be added to your list of submission files with the ‘Offline’ designation so that the Journal Office can anticipate the Item’s arrival through an alternate delivery method.

Repeat this process until all Items in your submission have been specified.  You can see everything you have attached in the list at the bottom.

When all Items have been attached, click ‘Next’ at the bottom of the page.

At this point, you will see the summary of the files you are sending to the Journal Office, and can make sure that everything you want to include is listed.  A message will prompt you if you have left out any of the required pieces of the submission.

Click ‘Build PDF for my Approval’.  A message will appear on the screen thanking you for your submission. Your manuscript will now be found in the ‘Submissions Waiting for Author’s Approval’ in your Author Main Menu.  To complete the submission process you will need to make one final approval before the Editorial Office receives your submission (See ‘Author PDF Approval’ in the following section).

If you are unable to complete the submission process, your data will not be lost.  You can access your unfinished submission in the ‘Incomplete Submissions’ list on your Author Main Menu.

File Ordering Mechanism

File order can be changed by entering numbers in the text box next to each Submission Item.

A text box with a number appears next to each file.  The files are numbered in the sequence in which they were uploaded.  For example, if four files are uploaded, the default value for each Item is 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.  The user can then change the order of the files by typing in a new order and clicking the ‘Update File Order’ button.

For example, if the last Item you uploaded should appear first, simply type a “1” next to the file, and Update the file order.  You will not have to renumber all the others, the file will automatically be bumped to the top, and all other subsequent files will be pushed down one.

The Submission Item Label Can Be Changed after the File Is Uploaded

If you are uploading a Figure, but did not select the ‘Figure’ Item from the Item drop-down box, then the Item label would be incorrect.

The ‘Item’ column in the list of attached files has drop-down boxes for each file, so the Submission Item can easily be changed after the file has been uploaded.

[Above: File ‘Order’ and ‘Item’ designation, and ‘Description’ can all be changed after file upload]

Uploading a Compressed File

Compressed files are any files created by a “packing” utility, such as PKZip or WinZip.  A compressed file may consist of a single file, or multiple files.  The primary purpose of ‘zipping’ or ‘compressing’ files is to reduce the overall file size, thus facilitating faster transmittal.  The following compressed file formats are supported:

1)     Zip – such as WinZIP

2)     tar.gz – this is a UNIX file compression utility

To upload a compressed file, choose a Submission Item Type from the drop-down list, and upload a compressed file containing one or more individual files.  The resulting behavior varies slightly, depending on whether the zip file contains a single file or multiple files. You can always change the Items and descriptions once they have been uploaded.

Zip File Contains a Single File

The single file is listed in the Attached Files list, with the Item and Description designation made by the user before the file was uploaded.  The user then has the opportunity to change the Item and/or Description, and re-order the files (if there are other files already in the list).

Zip File Contains Two or More Files

The unpacking process lists all of the files individually.  The user must then explicitly select a Submission Item for each file.  The Description fields are dynamically populated based on the Submission Items selected, and the user can modify the Descriptions, if desired. The user then has the opportunity to reorder the files.