What to Expect

The manuscript submission and peer review process is broken down into the following nine steps:

1. The Submitting Author submits a manuscript
2. The Editor assigns Reviewers to the manuscript
3. The Reviewers review the manuscript
4. The Editor makes a decision to accept, request revisions, or reject the manuscript
5. The Editor's Assistant contacts the Corresponding Author with the decision
6. If the decision is to request revisions, the Corresponding Author revises the paper and submits the revision
7. The Editor makes a new decision, sometimes with the advice of the previous Reviewers or new Reviewers
8. The Editor's Assistant contacts the Corresponding Author with the decision
9. Return to step six, as necessary

Submission Process

The submission process comprises four steps:

1. A submission form (often used in place of cover letter) that stores pertinent article and author information
2. A file transfer form where file descriptions and locations are designated; file transfer is initiated when this form is submitted
3. A confirmation screen, indicating file transfer was successful and providing your manuscript tracking number; select the Continue button to preview file conversions
4. A preview and approval screen; once you approve the file conversions, the peer review process will begin

Before submitting a manuscript, please gather the following:

• All Authors'
  • first and last names
  • e-mail addresses
  • postal addresses
  • work telephone numbers
• Title and Running Title (you can copy and paste this from your manuscript)
• Abstract (you can copy and paste this from your manuscript)
• Manuscript files in PDF, Word, WordPerfect, LaTeX, EPS or Postscript format
• Figures/Images in TIFF, PDF, EPS, Postscript, JPG or GIF format. If you embed your figures at the end of a PDF file with the text, do it in a manner that creates the smallest PDF file possible, while still retaining the figure quality.
Suggested tips for reducing PDF file size
• For line diagrams, one suggestion is to embed EPS figures and then create the PDF file from the single file.
• For complex figures, embed a high resolution image file (open the file in a viewer, e.g., Ghostscript), copy the image after enlarging it to the appropriate size, paste it into the manuscript, re-size it and then create the PDF file.
• Contact information (e-mail address and institution) of any suggested Reviewers. To search AGU's new potential reviewer database click here
• A primary index term, indicating the primary field of the paper and three secondary index terms, indicating other areas covered by the manuscript. To review the index terms list, click here

After the manuscript is submitted, you will be taken to a page where you can review your converted manuscript. If the conversion is not correct or complete, you can replace or delete your manuscript files as necessary. After you have reviewed the converted files, you will need to click on "Approve Converted Files."

Getting Help

Click here for comprehensive answers to most questions regarding preparation of manuscript files.

Throughout GEMS, red arrows reflect pending action items which you should address. If you need additional help, you can click on the help signs spread throughout the system. A help dialog will pop up with context-senstive help.

Manuscript Status

After you approve your manuscript, the submission process is complete. You can check the status of your manuscript by doing the following:

1. Log into the system with your password.
2. Click on the link represented by your manuscript tracking number and abbreviated title.
3. Click on the "Check Status" link at the bottom of the displayed page.

Starting

The manuscript submission process starts by pressing the "Submit Manuscript" link on your "Home" page. Please make sure you have gathered all the required manuscript information listed above BEFORE starting the submission process. If you need to halt completion of the submission form, click on the Save and Exit button at the bottom of the form. When you next log into GEMS, you'll see a red-arrowed item indicating that you have a halted submission to complete.

Please press HOME to continue.