TPM | Review Process
How do we work on Scientific Manuscripts?
Ideally, we prefer to maintain a direct interaction with the author(s) during the revision process. We believe that this close working relationship not only speeds up the revision process, but also provides the author with the opportunity to quickly clarify all doubts, no matter how small, as well as allowing us to develop a better understanding of their needs.
We prefer to work with Microsoft Word, but if you would like to work with other software, please contact us to discuss.
We will generally write to you in English, but please feel free to respond in whichever of these other languages you are most comfortable with: Spanish, Catalan, or Italian.
Stages of translation & review with TPM
The revision process consists of translation (from Spanish, Catalan, Italian, and French, where applicable), and thorough critical reading. This is done by experts who are familiar with your field and who will suggest changes to improve the organisation, precision, and clarity of your scientific argument. We will then perform a thorough language review of the manuscript, checking for spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, meaning, and fluidity.
The author may require clarification of any additional points; please feel free to write to us as many times as you like until all issues have been dealt with to your satisfaction.
If your article needs a re-formatting for a second or subsequent journal, you may wish for us to check the final version.
Following submission of your article, a similar process can be repeated for your response to the reviewer and any substantial changes to linguistic aspects of the article (additional paragraphs, re-structure phrases, etc.).
Time-frames for the review process at TPM
We return revisions within a maximum of 10 working days of receiving them, but will aim to do this as quick as possible, depending on your needs and our availability.
We generally try to respond to requests for clarification of any additional points within 24 hours, but can usually do this within a few hours of receiving them.
If you have a specific deadline, we will do everything we can to help you achieve this (enter the due date – not the submission date! – in the relevant field of the manuscript submission form). In exceptional circumstances, we may accept articles with an urgent deadline within a few days, which may carry an additional fee. If you are planning to send us an article with a short deadline, please try to give advance notice, and/or consider sending us any parts of the manuscript that have been completed.
TPM | Submission Chechlist
Manuscript versions:
If you are sending an article to revise, consider also sending any versions written in your own language (Catalan, Spanish, Italian, or French).
Affiliations:
Some authors choose to provide the list of affiliations in English. Where applicable, let us know if you would like us to ‘translate’ these affiliations.
Send a glossary of specialist terminology:
It is possible that we will be unfamiliar with at least some specialist terms in your article, and that we will translate or modify them to a form that may sound clear to us, but that will not be easily recognised by others in your field. Therefore, to avoid misspent time, consider sending us a list of terms you think we might be unfamiliar with along with the exact terms you would like to appear in your article. This applies whether you are writing in your own language or in English.
References:
If you are using a reference management program, please send the manuscript without formatting the reference list, but rather leave the field codes in plain text. This will help to avoid problems that might arise during editing and change tracking.
US English or UK English:
Let us know whether you are planning to send your article to a journal that uses US English or one that uses UK English. This is not a fundamentally important point, as the manuscript will generally be proofread and copy-edited before publication (unless it is a PLoS journal, and possibly others).