Phase II: Assign editors, connect with authors

Summary

Editors are assigned to articles depending on their time commitment and areas of interest -- typically, editors take care of 2 articles, but see here for more detail. The lead editor then messages the authors, including the co-editor and fact-checkers/copy-editors if these have been assigned. The introductory email (template here) should contain:

1. Introductions from the editors including any feedback on the aritcle (JoEllen's Guide to Accessible Writing has some great pointers on this)

2. Author brief: Editors adjust the bracketed info and other details in this template as needed. Place a copy in the "Article Draft" folder.

3. A deadline for a first draft (typically two weeks from the initial contact date)

The ME will also send the authors an email notifying the authors that their article has officially been accepted and providing editor contact info. This email will also include a contract agreeing them to let us publish their work, a demographics questionnaire to help us track and stay accountable for publishing the work of marginalized and BIPOC voices, as well as any payment information or more technical requests.

Total time: within a day of making editing assignments

Action items: sign up for editorial assignments, lead editor sends introductory email

What else you need to know:

This is probably the quickest stage -- while articles are being discussed, you should be thinking of which articles you'd like to sign up to edit. Typically, editors sign up for one or two articles/reviews/reports per issue. Any more quickly becomes hard to manage!

The lead editor then composes and sends the introductory email, including the updated author brief. The author should send you an email confirming that they are okay with the deadlines you set in the brief. If you don't hear back from your authors in 4-7 days, contact the managing editor.