Chemical Education Today
JCE in Transition News for Subscribers, Authors, and Reviewers JCE Editorial Staff Journal of Chemical Education, 209 North Brooks Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53715
[email protected] This issue inaugurates the first volume of the Journal of Chemical Education ( JCE) to be copublished by the Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Division of Chemical Education. We hope that you recognize the same quality material, often in a form that will look quite familiar. Some changes in procedures have been implemented or are underway. For the latest information, point your browser at http://www.jce.divched.org/Journal/FAQ/index.html. Subscriber Information How do I access JCE online? The online portion of your subscription to JCE is now available via the award-winning Web delivery of ACS Journals. Links to Journal content at JCE Online will be redirected to the ACS site. Alternately, you can proceed directly to the ACS Publications site (http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc/). The layout is new, with more content and tools at your fingertips. The content is available in three formats: HTML and two PDF versions. Previous volumes are still accessible with articles in the traditional PDF format. However, as the transition continues, look for the availability of the JCE archives in additional formats. Who manages my subscription, and how do I get questions about it answered? The customer services group of the ACS Publications Division will manage your account. The process began several months ago with the transfer of information from the Journal's previous vendor. Great care was taken to make the necessary changes. You should have been contacted by email (if you had a current email address on file) and via the carrier sheet that comes in the package with the Journal. Contact information is available on the Journal FAQ pages online: http://www.jce.divched.org/Journal/FAQ/index.html. How do I obtain a Journal subscription for my institution or myself? It is easy to sign up! JCE is available both in print and online. Individual subscribers can take advantage of a new bargainpriced, online-only option. Author Information Now that JCE and ACS have partnered to produce the Journal, how do authors submit their papers? Authors must submit their manuscripts to JCE using ACS Paragon Plus. Paragon Plus is a set of Web-based tools by which
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authors electronically transmit all components of a submission, including a cover letter, the manuscript, a copyright form, and any other necessary materials. The Web tools are compatible with a variety of browsers, making access convenient from home or office anywhere in the world. In addition to providing a submission path, Paragon Plus is the point of communication between authors and the Journal. As an author, you will be automatically notified via email of steps along the publication process. If you are already registered on Paragon Plus because you write or review for another ACS journal, you should be able to use your current login information. New authors can easily set up a Paragon Plus account. I submitted an article using the traditional paper method. Do I need to resubmit my article via ACS Paragon Plus platform? No. If you submitted your manuscript using the traditional system, you do not have to take any action at this time. Do not resubmit the same manuscript via Paragon Plus. A plan is in place to handle previous submissions. You will be contacted when your submission reaches the next stage, and you will be given explicit instructions on how to proceed at that time. Once the transition is complete, do I still have the option of submitting a paper article? No. When JCE completes the transition to Paragon Plus, we will no longer accept paper submissions. The only option will be to use ACS Paragon Plus. The Paragon Plus submission process raises questions about file types, formatting, and so on. Where can I find information about these issues? Technical support for JCE submissions through Paragon Plus will soon be available online; we will provide Web site addresses as soon as they become available. These sites will provide detailed descriptions of submission types, acceptable file formats, required styles, and the proper formatting of content. I have some questions about submissions to ACS-published journals. Is there a place to start looking now? You can look for more information by clicking the Submission and Review tab on the ACS Publications page: http:// pubs.acs.org/page/4authors/submission/index.html.
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r 2009 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc. pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Vol. 87 No. 1 January 2010 10.1021/ed800033y Published on Web 12/18/2009
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Chemical Education Today
Where should I look for more information about these changes? We will publish relevant information about conversion to ACS Paragon Plus as it becomes available. Updates will appear in this column, but a more complete listing can be found using JCE's Web site (http://www.jce.divched.org/) and the new home page of the Journal (http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc/). Check them regularly! Reviewer Information Under the ACS-JCE partnership, will the role and process for a reviewer be different? Yes. JCE will continue to use the peer-review system, but we will do so in the new Paragon Plus environment. Under the new system, the Editor or one of several new Associate Editors will select a reviewer. The reviewer will be notified of this via an email sent by the Paragon Plus system. The reviewer will be given basic information about the manuscript and asked to submit comments in a timely fashion. The reviewer must use the Web-based tools of Paragon Plus to submit an overall evaluation and comments about an article. The system makes it easy to complete these tasks. The identity of each reviewer is still protected; only
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Vol. 87 No. 1 January 2010
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the Editor and Associate Editors have access to this information. The authors are never provided the names of reviewers. How long will I have to complete a review? A reviewer will be invited to participate in that role and given two weeks to complete the task. We understand that this is different from the past system. However, we hope to streamline the overall process and take advantage of the Paragon Plus Environment and other production features to dramatically shorten the time between author submission and publication. This requires the cooperation of both authors and reviewers. Everyone benefits in the end. Is additional information available concerning the review process? The launch of the electronic reviewer tools coincides with the use of Paragon Plus by authors. The official start date will be announced at the JCE Web site, but individuals selected to review a submission will receive an email notifying them of this. The evaluation criteria for the review process are consistent with the ones used previously, and a summary of that information will be provided from within the reviewer tools.
pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
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r 2009 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
