Optimizing the JEM

The Rockefeller University Press $30.00 J. Exp. Med. Vol. 207 No. 5 905 www.jem.org/cgi/doi/10.1084/jem.20100696 Process In the past, each manuscript submitted to the JEM was assigned—by different scientific editors in the JEM office during different weeks—to one of our 12 academic editors. This primary academic editor would send the manuscript and their opinion of it to a secondary academic editor, who would then send it, along with their opinion, either back to the JEM office or to a tertiary academic editor for a third opinion. As of January 2010, all newly submitted manuscripts are first read and discussed in the JEM office by an expanding team of full-time scientific editors. Each manuscript is then sent, together with the scientific editor opinion and any related manuscripts, to one or two academic editors. This new process should expedite the initial review process and ensure that related manuscripts—which often focus on highly competitive topics—are handled consistently. Also relevant to manuscripts on competitive topics: as of March 2010, the JEM has the ability to expedite—at the discretion of the editors—online publication of accepted papers. Regardless of whether it is true, the notion persists that JEM academic editors have an easier time than outside scientists publishing their manuscripts in the JEM. To help dispel this notion and make the process of assessing manuscripts from academic editors more transparent, as of April 2010, all manuscripts submitted to JEM by academic editors are handled by one of three designated outside monitoring editors. In selecting monitoring editors, we sought outstanding scientists who have demonstrated a consistent ability to provide stellar, decisive reviews of papers in diverse fields. We are thrilled that our first choices—Jason Cyster, Marco Colonna, and Steve Hedrick—agreed to fill these positions.