Soil Science Society of America Journal
Author Help

INTRODUCTION

The Home Page for the Soil Science Society of America Journal's web based tracking system is found at http://www.manuscripttracker.com/sssaj/.

If you would like to submit a manuscript to Soil Science Society of America Journal you will need to register an account on the system. If you have not logged in to ManuscriptTracker and have not received an email with a username and password from manuscripttracker.com you will need to register first. Click on the Register Here link to create an account. There is also a field where you can enter key words or areas of expertise. This is an option, but if you are willing to serve as a reviewer for the journal, entering this information is extremely useful. This field can be searched by Associate Editor who are looking for people to serve as reviewers.

After you have entered your contact information in the fields, submit it by clicking on the Submit Registration button link. A confirmation page will appear. Clicking on the Register Me Now button link automatically returns a message to your e-mail address which informs you of your User name and Password which you will use to login to Manuscript Tracker.

SIGN-IN PAGE

Sign-in to Manuscript Tracker occurs by entering your User name and Password. The first time you are assigned as a reviewer (or the first time you submit a manuscript), you are automatically provided a unique User name and Password. If you forget your User name and Password, click on the Forget your Password link and you will be asked to enter your email address and your password will be sent to your e-mail.

HOME PAGE

When you sign in to Soil Science Society of America Journal Manuscript Tracker, you will be taken to your Home Page with an AUTHOR tab. If you have previously been a reviewer there will also be a REVIEWER tab. Click on the AUTHOR tab to view your options. You will find links for Submit New Manuscript, Manuscripts to be Assigned, Open, Accepted, Completed, Edit Personal Information, Copyright Form, Help, FAQ and Home. Each of these links are described below.

You will also see a report on the number of manuscripts you have to be assigned to Technical Editor and the number of manuscripts back for revision, and the number of open manuscripts you currently have. You can click on these to see a listing of the manuscripts.

Submit New Manuscript

When you submit a manuscript you will be asked for several pieces of information. It will be helpful to collect these before you submit your manuscript.

  • Paper Type
    • Select your Paper Type
    • Papers on Original Research
    • Notes on Original Research
    • Comments & Letters to the Editor
    • Short Critical Reviews or Essays
    • Soil Science Issues
    • Invited Review
    • SSSAJ 75th Anniversary (invited only)
  • Manuscript Title
  • Authors
  • Backup Contact Email (email or co-author or assistant)
  • Number of tables, figures and number that should be published in color
  • Suggested Reviewers
  • Research Funding (required)
  • Comments & Questions
    • Are you or a co-author a member of the SSSA? If a co-author is, please specify which one. To which division would you prefer this manuscript be assigned for review? If you acknowledge anyone in your manuscript, please list them here.
  • Abstract

Once all of the registration information has been entered, click on the Submit button. This action completes the registration of your paper with Manuscript Tracker and emails the Editor that you have submitted a manuscript. You will proceed by uploading your paper to the Soil Science Society of America Journal. This process is described below.

Uploading Manuscripts. To upload the manuscript you wish to submit to the journal for publication, use the Browse... button. This action will force you to choose the file on your computer that contains your manuscript. Once you have made your selection of the manuscript file you wish to upload, click on the Upload Manuscript File button link.

If you need to make changes to the manuscript record you can click on the Edit Record link. If you need to add a file open the manuscript record and as long as it has not been assigned a registration number there will be an Upload Files in the actions row. You can upload another version of the Original Manuscript File by clicking on this link.

Deleting Manuscripts. If you see the delete icon next to a file in the manuscript record you can delete this file by clicking the delete icon.

Manuscripts to be Assigned

This table contains a list of manuscripts that you have recently uploaded, but have not been assigned to a Technical Editor. You can click on the title to open the manuscript record and edit the record or upload files.

Open

If at any time you want to check on the review progress of your manuscript, this can be done through your Personal Web Page. Enter your User name and Password at the Soil Science Society of America Journal Manuscript Tracker home page at http://www.manuscripttracker.com/sssaj/.

Click on the All Open link.

This takes you to a page that lists all manuscripts that are currently being reviewed by the journal. Information contained on the All Open page includes:

  • Manuscript Number
  • Date Received by Journal
  • Title (this is the title of your paper which also serves as a link)
  • Contact Information (for the Editor of the journal)

Clicking on the Manuscript title link takes you to the actual manuscript record page which includes information described previously when you first submitted your manuscript. The one additional bit of information you will find is a Review Status line (see below).

  • Review Status (only active if a reviewer has already been assigned to a manuscript)

Revised Manuscripts. When the review of your paper has been completed, the Associate Editor may request revisions. The review comments and a place to respond to these comments can be accessed from the All Open link on your personal web page. Click on the link associated with the Manuscript Title of the manuscript needing revision. Towards the bottom of page you will see a heading titled Revision #1. This will only be seen if a revision has been requested. To the right of the Revision #1 heading is a summary of when the paper was returned for revision and two links titled Comments and Respond to Comments (Required). Clicking on the Comments link will reveal the review comments obtained for your paper. Clicking on the Respond to Comments (Required) link opens a page where you can enter text data with information related to how you responded to the reviewer comments and revised your paper. To make it easier for the Associate Editor to evaluate your revisions, it is requested that you itemize your responses to match those in the reviews.

You will make your revisions of the manuscript and write your reply to reviewers' comments using your own word processing software. When the revision process is completed, you will need to upload your revised manuscript (prepared in PDF or other format as described for submission of manuscript) for review by the Associate Editor. At the same time you upload your revised manuscript, you will need to submit your response to the reviewers comments.

Accepted

Once your manuscript has been accepted for publication you will be able to find it in the accepted listing.

After revisions have been deemed appropriate and your paper is accepted for publication, you will need to submit an electronic version of the text and tables for your manuscript in a word processing format. Word processing files are required of the final accepted version of the manuscript because of the need to edit text in preparation for typesetting. Microsoft Word is the preferred format but other formats are acceptable. In addition, you will need to submit printed copies of the text, tables, and figures of your manuscript; these must match exactly the electronic version.

Submit these materials by mail or courier to the Headquarters office at the following address:

SSSAJ Managing Editor
Accepted Manuscript
5585 Guilford Road
Madison, WI, USA 53711

Files must be prepared as described below.

Text. Microsoft Word is the preferred file type but most word-processing packages (e.g., Corel WordPerfect) are acceptable. Rich-text format (.rtf extension) and plain text (.txt extension) files are discouraged. When providing complex tables electronically, please place them in a file separate from the manuscript. Regardless of the software and file format used, one hard copy of the accepted version of the manuscript must be supplied. Be sure that the submitted files match the hard copies exactly.

Symbols and foreign characters can be set with word-processing software by altering typefaces to a corresponding font that displays the appropriate character. Use the Symbol font for Greek characters whenever possible. When special characters are unavailable, please note them on the hard-copy printout as not appearing properly in the electronic file. Do so by circling or making notes in the left margin. Use the software's spell-checking and page-numbering capabilities before final transmission. Do not embed artwork into a word-processing file.

Use the automatic word-processing wraparound feature and not hard returns (ΒΆ) for line breaks within a paragraph. Only use hard returns at the end of each paragraph and after headings. Use only one space between words and sentences. Use appropriate characters. Do not use a lowercase "l" for a one or an "o" for a zero. Do not use double-byte characters for special symbols. Do not use automated bulleting, numbering, or internal linking.

Notice for Word 2007 users: Equations must be composed using the Microsoft Equation 3.0 editor found under INSERT OBJECT, or with another MathML format such as MathType. Do not use INSERT EQUATION, which creates images (when converted) that cannot be used for typesetting. Regrettably, we will need to return any files created with Word 2007 that contain equations created with INSERT EQUATION to the authors for resetting.

Graphics. Graphics can be submitted electronically and each individual figure or graphic must be supplied as a separate, stand-alone file. Files must be named with their respective numbers and graphic types such as SmithFig1.tif, SmithFig2a.tif, SmithFig1.eps, etc. Long file names are acceptable. Only EPS and TIFF file formats are considered acceptable and TIFF is preferred. Artwork submitted in TIFF should adhere to the following resolution settings: half tones (color/grayscale): 300 dpi; line art (black and white), and mixed images (halftones with text or line art): 600 to 1200 dpi. If it is necessary to import graphics from a vector-based drawing program (e.g., Adobe Illustrator) into a raster-based program (e.g., Adobe PhotoShop) in order to produce a TIFF file, a resolution of at least 600 dpi is required for quality reproduction. Color artwork should be transmitted as CMYK color. RGB images must be converted to CMYK and all necessary color adjustments must be made prior to the transmission of the files. Authors must supply a color-correct CMYK printout of all color electronic art. When creating figures, use font sizes and line weights that will reproduce clearly and accurately when figures are sized to the appropriate column width. The minimum line weight is 1/2 point (thinner lines will not reproduce well). Eliminate all excess white space from the borders of each figure. Do not include figure legends or other extraneous text in a graphic file. Figure legends should be provided as text and placed after the reference section in the main manuscript file. A hardcopy printout, in high-quality and camera-ready copy, that exactly matches the electronic version of all figures must be supplied.

Authors are responsible for obtaining all permissions for use of figures from other publishers and should supply these releases at the time the accepted manuscript is forwarded for production. Authors are also responsible for obtaining permission from individuals whose images are included in photographs. Please note that ASA-CSSA-SSSA reserves the right to publish and republish any images you submit with a manuscript.

Manuscript Publication Fees

Membership in SSSA is not a requirement for publication in SSSAJ. For papers submitted January 2008 and following, accepted papers are assessed a publication charge of $80 per page with $100 non-member charge if not a member of SSSA. Figures and tables are additional. No manuscript publication fee is charged for invited reviews, comments, book reviews, or letters to the editor. Authors may choose to make their paper open access for a fee of $800. Authors may purchase reprints and PDF files. Reprint orders and publication charges are invoiced after the complete issue goes online.

Edit Personal Information

Contact information changes (i.e. address, phone, e-mail, etc.) can be submitted via your Personal Web Page by clicking on the Edit Personal Information link.

All of the information you had previously entered will be shown and you can make revisions as appropriate. Once you have completed the revisions, click on the Submit button link. This will take you back to your Personal Web Page and indicate that your contact information has been updated.

Help

Clicking on the Help link takes you to this file that describes how a Reviewer can use ManuscriptTracker.

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