IGI Global Editor's Guide

Greetings from the Editorial Team

Dear Editor,

Publishing a scholarly, edited book is an extensive collaboration among the publisher, editor, contributing authors, and reviewers. The ultimate goal is to produce a high-quality publication that will make its mark in its field and provide professional recognition for every contributor. We are very excited about this project and would like to offer you our full support and cooperation.

From preparing a call for chapter proposals to preparing your final materials, the IGI Global Editor’s Guide will provide you with clear direction that will make your job easier and more efficient. The Guide is efficiently organized to allow easy access to the materials that you will need at every stage of the development process, but we also encourage you to read ahead to get a feel for the requirements and tasks associated with coming stages. Adhering to these requirements will help you develop a high-quality manuscript and prevent delays and problems during the creation of your book.

Your book will be developed through IGI Global's online submission manager, eEditorial Discovery®, a tool designed to make the development process smooth and efficient for both you and your authors. Please reference the eEditorial Discovery® User Guide for more information. Throughout the Editor's Guide, you will also find links to useful videos and instructions on using eEditorial Discovery® to facilitate the development of your book project. Please feel free to contact your assigned development editor with any questions or concerns.

Please know that you will have continued support from our development team throughout the publication process. Should you have any concerns or questions about these guides once you have read through them, please do not hesitate to contact your development contact via e-mail or phone. IGI Global can be reached at (717) 533-8845 or development@igi-global.com.

We certainly wish you the best of luck in this exciting endeavor! It is the continued goal of IGI Global to produce the highest-quality, progressive titles that appeal to independent researchers, academicians, students, and industry professionals all over the world. We are pleased that you have chosen us as the publisher of your book. With more than two decades of experience publishing informative, innovative titles in a variety of academic discipline areas, we are confident that together we can produce a high-quality publication. We look forward to making your publishing experience enjoyable and rewarding!

Sincerely,

The Development Team
IGI Global

How to Use This Guide

TheIGI Global Editor’s Guide is organized to efficiently present you with all the information you need at every stage of the development process. Use the links below to quickly navigate to the phase or step you are interested in. We encourage you to read ahead in order to better prepare yourself for upcoming deadlines and requirements. Helpful links to additional documents and guides are included throughout this Guide to answer all of your questions during the development process, but if you have a question not addressed here, please feel free to ask your development contact for clarification.

Throughout the guide, you will also see headings denoting the active phase of the current step in the development process. Click on these headings for a step-by-step tutorial on utilizing the eEditorial Discovery® online submission manager.

• Step 1: Recruiting an Editorial Advisory Board
• Step 2: Proposal Acquisition
• Step 3: Proposal Acceptance and Rejection

• Step 4: Chapter Review
• Step 5: Post-Review
• Step 6: Chapter Revision

• Step 7: Preparing Your Final Manuscript
• Step 8: Finalizing the Content of Your Manuscript
• Step 9: Submitting Your Final Manuscript to IGI Global

In the first phase of the development process, you will be recruiting contributors and gathering the chapters and materials that will appear in your published book. These early steps are critical, as they will directly impact the quality and variety of the scholarship in the book.

• Step 1: Recruiting and Editorial Advisory Board
• Step 2: Proposal Acquisition
• Step 3: Proposal Acceptance and Rejection

We highly recommend that you begin assembling an Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) during the early stages of the development process. The EAB should consist of seven to ten individuals whom you see as pioneers or prevalent researchers in the topics covered by your manuscript.

The members of the EAB may serve as a reference for the editorial process and could be used to strengthen the overall quality of your publication. For example, EAB members can:

• Assist in preparing and distributing the call for chapters
• Evaluate proposals
• Help coordinate the review process of full chapters
• Review full chapters
• Edit final chapters for language, grammar, and formatting consistency
• Help in promoting and marketing the publication

Please note that EAB members may submit chapters to the manuscript as well, but may not author your foreword. For additional information on recruiting your foreword author, please see Step 8 below.

Should you need any assistance in gathering potential members for the EAB, please do not hesitate to ask your Development contact.

• Sample EAB Invitation Email

From this step onward, you will be developing your book through eEditorial Discovery®. Please refer to the eEditorial Discovery® User Guide for instructions on Accessing Your Book Project.

Once you have logged in to eEditorial Discovery®, access the "Create Call for Chapters" section of your book project.

Instruction: Creating a Call for Chapters

Proposal acquisition begins with the preparation of both a good call for chapter proposals and a personalized invitation. Your call for chapters should be as brief as possible while still providing a clear overview of the project's focus and goals.

The basic structure of a call for chapter proposals is as follows:

• Introduction – In this paragraph, you will want to introduce the topic area of your book and discuss why there is a particular need for your book.
• Objective of the Book – In this paragraph, you will want to describe, as the title suggests, the overall objective of your book. What purpose will your manuscript serve?
• Target Audience – In this paragraph, you will want to discuss for whom your book will be written. What are the main groups of individuals that will be reading your book?
• Recommended Topics – In this section, you will want to include a list of topics (we recommend 20-30) under the umbrella of your main book topic on which you would like contributors to write. The intent of this list is to provide contributors with ideas that they can use when writing their own chapters, so it is advisable to provide a broad range of topics for authors to consider. While it is best to include an extensive list of recommended topics, you’ll want to indicate here that the list you have provided is not necessarily comprehensive.
• Submission Procedure – In this paragraph, you will want to clearly lay out for your potential contributors what the proposal submission requirements are, specifically, content, length, and due dates. You will also want to provide:
  • The date by which you will be accepting proposals
  • The date full chapters will be due
  • The general details of the review process (for example, that each full chapter is going to be double-blind peer reviewed by at least 3 reviewers)
• Important Dates – In this section, please include a list of the following milestone dates throughout the development process:
  • Proposal Submission Deadline
  • Notification of Acceptance
  • Full Chapter Submission
  • Review Results Returned
  • Final Chapter Submission
  • Final Deadline
  • Please note that as we encourage you to set several submission deadlines throughout the call process, we suggest that you periodically update your call to include the most up-to-date information and deadlines.
• Inquiries – In this section, please include email and/or postal addresses at which potential contributors can contact you with questions.

The basic structure of a personalized invitation is almost identical to that of a call for chapter proposals. However, it is different in that you will want to lay out your invitation like a personal letter— you’ll want to describe the same things you would in your call for chapter proposals, but you will want to make sure that your paragraphs are transitioning smoothly from one to the next. Be sure to link potential contributors to the call for chapters posted online, so that they may submit their proposals and full chapters through eEditorial Discovery®.

Once you’ve prepared both your call for chapter proposals and your personalized invitation, we will proofread your call to make sure that it is free of errors, accurate in terms of matching your contractual specifications, and as well-structured and effective as possible. Contributors will be asked to submit proposals directly through your call for chapters via eEditorial Discovery®.

Please see the following examples of both a call for chapters and a personalized invitation:

• Sample Call for Chapter Proposals
• Sample Personalized Invitation

You will notice that the schedule of deadlines on your contract includes three deadlines for proposal submissions. This is to ensure that you are able to gather the highest possible number of proposals early in the development process, which will ensure the success of your project in the later stages. As each deadline passes, potential contributors who missed the due date will have an additional opportunity to submit their work by the next deadline. To make the most of these built-in extensions, we recommend following up with invited contributors within a week before an after each proposal deadline.

**Please note that authors will be required to submit their proposals through eEditorial Discovery®. When communicating with potential contributors, be sure to provide them with the link to your call for chapters as well as the link where they can upload their chapter proposals.**

We recommend that you assess proposals as they arrive. Generally speaking, you should assess proposals in terms of their

• Overall quality
• Relevance to your topic
• Suitability for your book
• Effectiveness of proposed discussion

Aside from these four general categories of assessment, you should be sure to create a list of other criteria specific to your book by which to evaluate the proposals you receive.

Additional notes on accepting proposals:

• It is beneficial to the credibility of your book to include chapters by as many different authors as possible.
• Accept proposals from a variety of countries and universities—diverse perspectives will greatly improve the quality of the overall book.
• Many proposals will be almost good enough to accept. In this case, work with the authors and encourage them to adjust their proposals as necessary.

Once you have decided which proposals to accept and reject, inform the authors either way via eEditorial Discovery®.

Please be sure to direct authors of accepted proposals to the Contributor Resources Page and provide them with our Chapter Guidelines. It is important that, as the editor, you be familiar with these guidelines to ensure that each author has adhered to them and so that you are able to answer any questions that may arise.

While we encourage editors to contribute their own chapters to a book, whether as an introduction and/or conclusion to frame the publication or internal chapters on a topic not otherwise covered by another contributor, the editors may, collectively, contribute no more than 3 chapters, including the introduction and/or conclusion. This is to ensure that the overall publication includes a diverse range of perspectives and ideas, increasing its appeal and benefit to the academic community. Editors' chapters will need to undergo the same review process as outside contributions.

**Please note that all chapters MUST be submitted through eEditorial Discovery®. Chapters submitted outside of the system may not be considered for publication.**

In the second phase of the development process, you will be organizing the double-blind review process for your book chapters and providing editorial guidance to authors as they revise their work for final submission. These are some of the most important steps in the process, as it is your opportunity to evaluate the quality of the final book, ensuring that only the very best chapters are accepted for publication.

• Step 4: Chapter Review
• Step 5: Post-Review
• Step 6: Chapter Revision

The peer review process is one of the most important stages in the creation of an excellent manuscript. Following these steps precisely is crucial to organizing a successful review.

• About 3 weeks before the final full chapter deadline listed on your contract, remind authors of the chapter deadline and the importance of providing you with their full chapters on schedule.
• Secure reviewers prior to the arrival of the full chapters. Most editors assign their EAB and contributing authors as reviewers, but you can also invite other scholars in your field to review chapters.
• Sample Reviewer Invitation E-Mails
• Sample Chapter Evaluation Form
Active Phase: Request Reviewers
• Once a chapter has arrived, use the submission system to assign the chapter to at least three individuals other than the editors. Note that since the peer review process is double-blind, under no circumstances should you allow any of the reviewers to know the names of the contributing authors and vice versa.
• Do not send any chapters to reviewers without first checking the manuscript for plagiarism. It is important to identify unethical practices early in order to protect both yourself and your publication.
• Please send each reviewer at least two chapters. We recommend giving reviewers two weeks to read and evaluate the chapters, regardless of the review process deadline on your contract. This way, if a reviewer does not complete their evaluation as promised, you will have time to seek additional reviewers as needed before the deadline. Reviewers will submit their evaluations through eEditorial Discovery®.
• While the reviewers are evaluating the chapters, we encourage you to carefully review and assess each chapter yourself. We recommend that you answer the questions on the evaluation form you sent the reviewers, as this will allow you to easily compare your notes with the notes of the reviewers.

Once you begin to receive the reviewers’ completed evaluations, you should start assessing the results. As you will notice, all three reviewers may not agree on the items that need to be revised in each chapter, and comments may contradict. Be sure to take what suggestions and comments the reviewers provided into careful consideration.

Based on the reviewers’ suggestions and your evaluation of each of the chapters, you will need to make a final decision as to whether you should 1) accept the chapter pending proper revision or 2) reject the chapter altogether. It is rare that any chapter can just be accepted without any revisions made.

Once you have made your final decision about the status of each chapter, contact each of your authors and provide them with the results by the "Review Results to Authors" date on your contract. Along with your own comments about the chapter, include a clear indication of which specific suggestions from the reviewers you would like the authors of accepted chapters to take into consideration when they revise their work.

Receiving Revised Chapters
Just over a week before the revised chapter deadline, please be sure to send your authors a reminder about their due date. Once you begin receiving revised chapters from your authors, we encourage you to read through their responses to your and the reviewers’ comments as well as their revised chapter to decide whether or not the chapter has been sufficiently revised for inclusion in your publication. You may find that you need to send some of the chapters off for a second review or that you need to send some of the chapters back to the authors for additional revision.

Issuing Acceptance/Rejection Notifications
After you have made your final decision concerning which chapters to accept and which to reject, you will need to, by the "Final Acceptance Notification" deadline listed on your contract, send your authors an e-mail notifying them of your decision.

In your correspondence with the authors of accepted chapters, it is very important that you note several things:

• Some of the chapters may need some additional last-minute revisions before they are satisfactory for inclusion in your book, so you will want to point out any final items that should be changed.
• Please inform authors that there are several formatting and submission guidelines that they must follow in order for their chapters to be accepted for publication by IGI Global. These guides can be found on our Contributor Resources page. We kindly request that you be familiar with these documents as well so you can ensure authors have met these guidelines.
• Ensure that all authors have access to the Contributing Author Checklist
.
• Please clearly indicate that the authors’ final chapters and materials should be submitted through eEditorial Discovery® by no later than the "Submission of Final Chapters" date listed on your contract.

In the final phase of the development process, you will be organizing your final manuscript for submission, which includes ordering your accepted chapters in a well-thought-out table of contents, writing your preface, and gathering final submission requirements from your contributors. It is important that the following steps be followed precisely in order to ensure an efficient end to the development process and a smooth transition into the final publication and printing of your book.

• Step 7: Preparing Your Final Manuscript
• Step 8: Finalizing the Content of Your Manuscript
• Step 9: Submitting Your Final Manuscript to IGI Global

Receiving Final Materials from the Authors
Approximately a week or so prior to the authors’ deadline for submission of their final chapters and materials, please send them a reminder. Again, it is very important that the authors submit their final materials according to schedule.

Before you receive the authors’ materials, be sure to familiarize yourself with the Final Submission Requirements for Authors.

As the final materials begin to arrive from the authors, you will need to download them and ensure that each author has provided you with all required materials, copy edited, and in the format required by IGI Global for publication. The materials you submit to IGI Global will be considered final and ready for publication as is. If any of the authors have failed to send you an item or have failed to prepare an item correctly, please contact them as soon as possible to ensure the speedy delivery of the missing/incorrect item. This will also be your opportunity to make any necessary last-minute corrections or edits to the manuscripts before uploading the final, camera-ready versions to eEditorial Discovery®.

Please note that any items that do not conform to IGI Global standards will be sent back to the authors for correction, so it is vitally important to ensure that the submission of your completed manuscript is entirely correct to facilitate the efficient and on-schedule completion of the publication process.

While your authors complete their revised chapters, you should begin to consider and complete the front matter for your book (table of contents, preface, acknowledgements, etc.) The following is a summary of the items required to finalize this volume. Please also be sure to reference the Editor Final Checklist to aid your progress.

Creating a Table of Contents
Once you have made your final acceptance decisions, you should work on creating a table of contents (TOC).

As you decide on the order of your chapters, please note that we highly recommend that you create several (between two and four) sections under which to place your chapters, depending on the coverage of each chapter. We would then ask that you include with these headings on your table of contents a descriptive paragraph that briefly discusses what information is included in the chapters in that particular section of the publication. Page numbers will be added by IGI Global following the typesetting process.

• Sample Table of Contents

• An overview of the subject matter
• A description of where your topic fits in the world today
• A description of the target audience
• A description of the importance of each of the chapter submissions (this entails providing a paragraph description of each chapter)
• A conclusion of how your book impacts the field and contributes to the subject matter

Your preface is your summary of the book, your chance to highlight important parts of the publication and demonstrate the significance of the chapters within. Put your passion for the topic into your writing, and your preface will be both effective and engaging.

Librarians and index administrators look primarily to the preface when determining which books to add to their collections, so a strong preface correlates directly to a wider readership for your work.

• Sample Preface

We will only be able to include, at most, two forewords in the final version of your book. However, if more than two authors are interested in contributing, they can provide post-publication reviews and endorsements for the book that we can publish on our website and in related journals to further promote and enhance the visibility of your book.

• Sample Foreword

Writing Your Acknowledgment
Your acknowledgment (optional) should include recognition of anyone who worked with you or contributed to the success of your book. Acknowledgment sections should not exceed 1 page in length.

• Sample Acknowledgment

Once you have completed preparing your materials and verifying that all requirements have been met, the final step is to upload your final manuscript to eEditorial Discovery®. Check your chapter documents one last time to confirm submission of the final version and to ensure that the organization of these files matches the chapter order laid out in your Table of Contents and Preface.

Please note that until your book goes to print, we may still contact you with any questions, concerns, or corrections needed to ensure the quality and timeliness of your final publication. Should you have any questions or concerns, or be in need of any assistance during the final steps of the development process, please do not hesitate to contact your development editor.

* * * * * * * * * * *

On behalf of the development team, thank you for your diligent work and excellence in overseeing the development of this publication. We wish you the very best for a most successful book!