EJGE Editorial Process

These are the typical steps for the publication of a paper by EJGE: (nearly all of the communications described below are done electronicaly)

1. Paper "raw" files are downloaded from the e-mail servers (ejge.net, hotmail.net) into the main editorial computer, and placed in "the originals" folder.

2. The original files are immediately copied to two other computers and media (CD's) for safe keeping. The first copy is called the Work Copy, where the latest modified and/or edited version resides at all times.

3. The rough review: the files received are checked for completeness and validity. Irrelevant submissions are eliminated at this stage.

4. The authors are notified of the reception of their manuscripts.
   • If there are missing or damaged files, they are notified with requests for correcting the problems.
   • If the "originals" have changed, they are also stored in media, separately.

5. The rough editing: The manuscript files are virus-checked and formats cleaned up. Some DOC files come generated and edited using an old version of software or style sheets. Some manuscripts come in other word-processing formats. If they can not be opened and edited with the EJGE-maintained software, the authors are notified immediately with appropriate actions suggested.

6. Selection of the Review Board member to guide the review process. The member selected is called "Review Board Member in Charge" or RBM-IC. RBM-IC is given a link to an EJGE server to access the manuscript. This link is only known by the Editorial Office and the RBM-IC involved. The members are free to perform the review themselves, or suggest another member to complete this task. The Master RBM-IC List is only available to the Editor-in-Chief.

7. Authors are given a chance to see their paper's near-final form. They are given a (still secret) link, and asked to approve what the reviewers will see. A very small fraction of files are changed at this stage.

8. Although, by its very nature, the review process is carried out in secrecy, other Board members and experts of the subject are necessarily involved. Each of those persons is given a document of conditions of secrecy and a chance to withdraw if they do not agree.

9. The results of the review are received by the Editor-in-Chief, who makes the final decision on publication/rejection.

10. The rejected manuscripts are immediately erased from the EJGE Web servers, but remain in the "originals" computer and media.

11. The first editing: Modifications marked as "must for publication" by RBM-IC are immediately done on the "work copy" of the papers.

12. Authors are now given a chance to see their paper's final form. They are given a (still secret) link.

13. The final editing: This occurs when the author(s) desire to make a last-minute change. Extensive modifications are not allowed at this stage.

14. Posting: The paper is now in html format (abstracts) and pdf format (main paper files) with links to figures, tables, and equations, which are placed in separate files in the same directory/folder. The pdf format is used for papers since 2007, Volume 12.

15. Inclusion in TOC: The accepted papers are added to the relevant Journal-Table of Contents (TOC) file, and the file is posted on the Web servers.

16. Verification: The papers are accessed by users at least in two different countries, which occurs in a few seconds after posting (ejge.net servers send out, on the average, 8 files per second in '09), but a day is allowed to pass for judging the task is complete.

17. Clean-up: The original e-mail messages to and from the authors are erased from the servers after a year from their original receipt. The temporary files (including the e-mails) generated during the process are compressed into ZIP files, and the originals erased.

18. Maintaining: Other than taking care of a malicious attack by some "sicko" somewhere (yes, it has happened once), the physical maintainance of the Journal is done by the ISP hired by EJGE.