Editor guide

As editor, you will evaluate the manuscript, suggest improvements and eventually accept or reject it. This guide presents the following: - Overview of the general interface and workflow - Overview of the article page - Overview of relevant actions on articles

FAQ

I cannot send my decision on this article, why?

If the buttons are unavailable in the decision module, this means either the status of the article does not allow a decision, or your profile does not have the right to take the decision.

Most of the time, this is caused by the status, typically these two statuses will lock the editorial decision:

This is a feature ensuring the author or referee(s) complete their pending tasks. To unlock the decision, you must either:


I made a mistake when sending the decision, how can I cancel and resend it?

You must first revert your previous decision! This is done via the decision module:

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When sending a message, I can only enclose one file, why?

Spam filters are sensitive about enclosures. To preserve our sender address reputation, we have implemented the following safeguards:

To enclose several files, three methods are at your disposal:

1. The simplest method is to zip the files and upload the zip here:

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2. Another straightforward solution is to assign yourself as referee and upload the files in the report form. This will insert a link in your decision, that the author can simply click to download the files.


3. An alternate solution is to upload the files in the file management module, and refer the author to it. Check with your editorial office that file types are properly configured and ensure the author has access to it.


How can I correct my e-mail address and personal information?


Click on your name and on ‘My profile’:


 

 

From this page, you can:


The system sends me too many e-mails, how I can I disable them?

E-mail alerts can be disabled via your personal account. Please click on your name and on ‘My profile’:

From there, go the Alert System:

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I want to submit a paper myself, how can I reach the author interface?

By default, Nestor will log you as editor. If you want to submit a paper where you are the author, you must switch your role! This is done here:

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Presentation of the general interface

Presentation of the general interface

Menus

On the editorial home page, two menus are available:

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Presentation of the general interface

Advanced and saved searches

The advanced search is available through two buttons in your interface:

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Criteria, operators and groups

The advanced search allows you to look for articles by combining several criteria with AND and OR operators.

To add a criteria, click on the (+) icon:

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When several criteria are present, they must be combined with a boolean operator:

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Criteria can be grouped to refine your search. Groups are created using parentheses:

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Advanced search: a case study

For example, let us search for papers:

The search request will look like this, where we specify:

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Saving search criteria

Once the search is launched and you visualize results, you can save the criteria:

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To save the search, you must input a name, and can optionnally display a shortcut in your dashboard:

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You will retrieve your saved searches here:

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and in your dashboard if you activated the option:

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Editing/duplicating search criteria

Saved searches can be conveniently edited and duplicated when necessary, using those two buttons:

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Presentation of the general interface

Dashboards, status and counters


Nestor dashboards offer a quick overview of the journal activity, sorting articles by status and counting them.

Standard dashboards

Every editor has access to:

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A brief overview of the workflow

The workflow has been divided into functional steps called statuses. For each status, Nestor expects a reply from the indicated user, and use the due date to calculate delays.

Below is a diagram of the Nestor workflow. Blue boxes represent editorial statuses: these will appear in your to-do list and require your attention! Starred statuses allow you to take the common actions:

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Special dashboards

Additionally, and according to your profile rights, you may have access to

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Presentation of the general interface

Articles lists: views and exports

 

Overview

From the dashboard, clicking on a status will lead you to the list of articles matching the status:

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From this list, you can reach any article just by clicking on the reference. Articles with red statuses have their due date exceeded:

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Customizing displayed columns

Columns can be customized to suit your needs:

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Exporting lists

Article lists can be easily exported using the export tool:

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Presentation of the article page

Selecting an article will display the article information page. This page is divided into: * the upper area, containing the main information about the article * the lower area, containing information related to versions

Presentation of the article page

Upper area: the main information


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The main information module is located in the upper area. It contains the most important information about the manuscript:

Presentation of the article page

The quick actions toolbar

The quick actions toolbar is located in the upper part of the article page.

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It contains quick shortcuts to manage the article. Note that available actions will depend on: 

For instance if the article is in peer review, the toolbar will allow you to reach actions to manage referees easily without scrolling to the referee module.

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Likewise, you can send the editorial decision to the author directly from here.image.png


Presentation of the article page

The due date


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The due date is indicated in the upper part of the article page. The due date indicates:

According to the article status, it is used:

 

How does Nestor uses the due date?

Nestor uses the due date for two important features:

 

How is the due date computed?

The due date is computed automatically when the article changes status, using:

today's date + a number of days

The number of days depends on the article type and its workflow configuration. Some article types need faster processing times, so their due dates will be set earlier.


Can the due date be corrected?

Yes, the due date can be corrected!

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Presentation of the article page

Lower area: versions

For each revision of an article, Nestor will create a new tab in the lower part.


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Information about the article is stored for each version. The specific modules of the lower area are described in the following pages:


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Presentation of the article page

The metadata module

On the left hand are the metadata fields. Metadata fields are editable by clicking directly on the values. Note that metadata can be edited only on the last submitted version of the article.

 

Depending on the article type configuration, metadata can include:


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Presentation of the article page

The file management module

On the right hand side is the file management module, which lists all files submitted by the author for this version.


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This module allows to:

Uploading files will open a window proposing available file types for this article:

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Presentation of the article page

The referee management module

This is where you will invite referees, un-invite, send reminders, consult the reports, etc. (these actions are explained in detail here).


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The information is related to each revision. If you want to have a global view of the referee process, please click on the referees tab on the right hand side of the page.

 

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Presentation of the article page

The editorial decision module

This is where you will propose or take the editorial decision, and consult it. Those actions are detailed here.

For each version, all proposal/decisions are stored in this module. Clicking on the recommendation will open the corresponding decision letter.


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Presentation of the article page

The correspondence module


All e-mails sent from Nestor are stored and accessible at any time.


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The list of messages can be shortened with the 'Masking menu', you can choose which kind of messages you want to hide.


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Similarly to referee management, a global view of e-mails on all versions can be found in the Emails tab.


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Presentation of the article page

History tabs

Writing in progress...    ↁ_ↁ

Any enquiries? please contact us:  support@nestor-edp.org

Editor assignment and responsibility

This section details the assigment process and the concepts related to editorial responsibility: - Who is the current editor of an article, what are the consequences? - Who is the editor in charge? - How does editorial responsability switch from an editor to another?

Editor assignment and responsibility

Assigning editors

If you are an Editor-in-Chief, you will likely assign articles to other editors (e.g. Associate Editors, Guest Editors, etc.). Click on the ‘Assign an Editor’ menu and select the editor you want to assign. This opens the confirmation window, proposing you assignment e-mails:


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Once you confirm sending the message, the following happens:

  • the assigned editor is now responsible to move the editorial process forward. He is considered "current editor", which impacts his to-do list.
  • you are considered his "parent editor", this means any decision proposal from the assigned editor will come back to you for validation.

Additionally:

Current editor & editor in charge


In the article:

On a given article, there can be only one editor in charge, and one current editor. The same person can hold the two responsibilities at the same time.

In fact most of the time, the scientific editor is both "current" and "in charge". Depending on your workflow, this can change later on in the process. For example:

If necessary, editorial responsibility may be easily corrected with this tool:

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Editor assignment and responsibility

Current editor and to-do list

The current editor is responsible for moving an article forward:

In any event, the current editor is responsible of the timely processing of the manuscript, and make sure the workflow is not stuck.

For this purpose, your personal to-do list keeps track of articles where you are current editor:

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The to-do list helps you identify articles where an action is expected from you. NB Red counters keep track of articles where the due date is passed, please pay particular attention to them.

Editor assignment and responsibility

Editor in charge and personal dashboard

The editor in charge of a manuscript is responsible of the scientific evaluation, oversee the review process, and proposes the final decision. Contrary to the current editor, the editor in charge remains the same throughout the life of the article.

Let us consider the following examples:

The editor in charge notion serves two purposes:

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Editor assignment and responsibility

How does editorial responsibility switch?

For a given article, editorial responsibility is indicated by the colored tags in the assignment module. Note that the editor in charge and the current editor can be the same person! In fact, this will be the case for most of the article life.

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Becoming the "current editor"

Any editor assigned to an article immediately gets the green tag "current editor", and is responsible for moving the article forward. If you are current editor, this means:

Besides the standard switch described above, a proposal from an editor to his parent editor will also switch the responsibility: the parent editor will become "current", usually to take the final decision on the article.


Becoming the "editor in charge"

An editor gets the blue tag "editor in charge" when these conditions are fulfilled:

Becoming editor in charge means you are now responsible of the scientific evaluation (ง •̀_•́)ง

Also, the article will appear in your personal dashboard (provided it is not already in your to-do list!).


Correcting the editorial responsibility

Correcting the responsibility is straightforward, but your editor profile must allow you to do it! Correcting the editorial responsibility will impact the other editors' dashboards as described above. This is useful to ensure an article is being followed properly by the most relevant editor.

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Peer review management

Peer review management

Finding/creating a referee


In the referee module, click on the ‘Invite a referee’ button.


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You can search a referee using different criteria: e-mail address, last name, first name, or expertise fields if the journal uses them. For any search, please type in at least 2 letters and the system will display the relevant propositions. You may switch to classic search to use wild cards and filter referees precisely.

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For each referee found, the system displays his/her activity. If you click on the link or on the user logo you will get more information. For confidential reasons, you are not allowed to access the papers that you were not put in charge of. 


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If the referee you’re looking for is not registered in the system, you can add and invite them with the link ‘add a new referee’.

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When you have chosen the referee, click on the ‘Invite’ button, this will open the invitation pop-up window, where you can edit the invitation letter, or send it directly.

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Uploading my own report on the paper

You can assign yourself as a referee on the paper. In this case, you will receive the usual referee link to upload your referee report, and the author will receive this report grouped with other referee reports.

Instead, please consider submitting an editor report.

The difference between a referee and an editor report is slim: the editor report is identified as such to the author, and is distinguished in the author interface:

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Peer review management

Contact a suggested referee

In the referee module, click on the ‘Invite a referee’ button.


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If the journal requests this information during submission, you will have the possibility to invite the referee(s) suggested by the author.

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Declined referees can also suggest their own colleagues to help you find an appropriate expert:

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In any case, Nestor will check and inform you 

Peer review management

Referee AI search with Prophy

Starting 2025, Nestor has a partnership with the Prophy referee finder tool! Prophy is configured on a journal basis: to activate the feature, please contact us at support@nestor-edp.org

Triggering Prophy

In the referee module, click on the ‘Invite a referee’ button.

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In the invitation window, triggering the tool is straightforward:

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When clicking "Search with Prophy", Nestor will send the manuscript to Prophy who:


Checking the list of suggestions

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The list shows the first 5 referees. It is sorted by score, which represents the match between the manuscript's concepts and the referee's own papers. The higher the score, the higher the relevance of the referee to assess this paper.

From this interface, you can:

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Peer review management

Managing invited referees

Actions on referees



Once a referee has been invited to review an article, it is listed in the referee module for this version.

The module keeps track of the status of each referee and proposes relevant actions to manage them:


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Here is the detail of each action:



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Remind the referee manually, the letter template content will adapt depending on the referee status.

Note that automatic reminders may be active in your journal, please check with your Editorial Office.


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Cancel invitation if you no longer need this referee


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Acknowledge cancellation of the referee (if received outside of the system).

Use with caution: as much as possible, referees should interact directly with the system.


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Acknowledge promised report from the referee (if received outside of the system).

Use with caution: as much as possible, referees should interact directly with the system.


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Register a report manually (if received outside of the system).

Use with caution: as much as possible, referees should interact directly with the system.


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 Reinvite a canceled referee


Number of expected reports and impact on article status



For each article type, a number of expected reports can be set:

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This number determines the article status according to referees' answers:


The number of expected reports depends on the article type, but can be adjusted if necessary for each article. Adjusting the number of expected reports will automatically impact the article status as described above:

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Reminders to referees

 

Reminders to referees may be either manual, or configured to be sent automatically. For each referee, Nestor keeps track of the last reminder date, and the number of reminders already sent.


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Peer review management

Checking/editing referee reports

Please click on the recommendation to open the referee report.


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You can edit the referee’s questionnaire, comments and recommendation. You can upload a referee attachement (or replace it, if needed). In case the referee has uploaded more than one file, they will be available in a zip file.

 

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Peer review management

Uploading my own report on the paper

You can assign yourself as a referee on the paper. In this case, you will receive the usual referee link to upload your referee report, and the author will receive this report grouped with other referee reports.

Instead, please consider submitting an editor report.

The difference between a referee and an editor report is slim: the editor report is identified as such to the author, and is distinguished in the author interface:

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Editorial decisions and proposals

Editorial decisions and proposals

Taking the editorial decision

Accessing decisions

Once expected reports are received on a version, the article will switch to 'Waiting editorial decision'. This unlocks new actions in the decision module:

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If these buttons are missing, this means that there is still at least one referee invited. Please click on the ‘Cancel pending referees’ button to un-invite these referees.


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Proposals and decisions


Depending on the rights attached to your profile, you may propose or take a decision on a version.


Sending the decision


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Clicking on the recommendation will display the e-mail pop-up.

From here, you may edit your decision before sending the message. If you have gathered referee reports, they will be automatically inserted into your message.

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Checking the decision

Once it is sent, your proposal/decision is stored on the article version for archival purposes. 

If for any reason you need to change the decision, you can revert it. This will rewind the status (usually to ‘waiting editorial decision’) and you can choose another decision. All these actions will be documented and stored in the history tab.

Reverting a decision should be exceptional, to handle appeals and such. Use sparingly!


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Submit an editor report

Additionally, before taking a decision, you may upload an editorial report on a version. Similarly to referee reports, their purpose is to store lenghty comments and enclosures, independently of the official decision.

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Editorial interface for A&A: a quick overview

This guide is intended for Associate Editors of A&A. It gives a quick overview of the general menu and article page of NESTOR, and how these differ with the corresponding interfaces in MMS.

Important notes
  • You can connect to the system here.
  • All data has been imported from MMS. Last update: 25 July 2023.
  • You can invite referees, play with the system, try to break things.
  • No real mails will be sent.
  • However, on each article, you can retrieve the mail history as in the MMS (bottom of the article page).

  • For detailed information on how to invite reviewers, make editorial decisions etc., please consult the detailed documentation here.

The following is divided into three sections:

General interface

The dashboard

When connecting to the system, you will be greeted by your personal dashboard:

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A few words about the differences with the MMS:

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Articles lists

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Article interface


The main new feature compared to MMS is that history is tracked according to each article version. While the MMS did it for manuscript files:

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Nestor does it for many more things:

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On the current version of the paper, you will retrieve relevant actions in dedicated modules:

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These actions are also available in the quick actions bar, which is similar to the MMS in this regards. This bar is always displayed in the upper part of the page:

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A few final tips


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