[OJS] Authors’ responsibilities during copyediting (Step 2)

Authors must review their copyedited manuscript during Step 2 of the copyediting process. To access the Copyediting section (and copyedited manuscript), the submitting user can click on the URL provided to you in the Step 2 notification email. Alternatively, you can follow these steps: 

1. Log into your JMIR account.

2. Select your Role as "Author" (green color icon)

3. Under the Active tab, click on the title of your article.

4. Click on the Editing tab as shown below:

5. Below the Submission details, you will see the Copyediting section. At this point, you will need to complete the 4 substeps (2a-2d; see image below) to move the article forward in the copyediting process. The yellow boxes next to some steps indicate that author action is still required to complete Step 2.

Detailed step-by-step instructions for completing Step 2 of Copyediting are as follows:

1. Step 2a - Manuscript File: Review the copyedited manuscript and respond to the copyeditor’s queries

• Log into the journal website http://www.jmir.org/author/submissionEditing/{$articleId}, , where {$articleId} is your article number.
• Download and open the "Initial Copyedit File."
• Step 2 of copyediting is your final opportunity to make substantial changes to language, spelling, or rough table layouts (including table footnotes).

• Handling Tracked Changes & Editorial Style

  • Ensure you turn on the "Track Changes" function in Microsoft Word before making changes and responding to queries. See how to navigate Track Changes and add/respond to Comments in Word. Alternatively, change your view to Simple Markup for easy readability (hides track changes). 

  • Do not accept, reject, or revert tracked changes: Your copyeditor edits according to AMA Style (11th edition) and JMIR House Style. If you agree with an edit, simply leave it as is. If you disagree, add a comment explaining your reasoning instead of rejecting or untracking the change.  
  • Edits made for journal style, grammar, or American English spelling ensure publication consistency and will not be reverted upon request.

2. Step 2b - REFERENCES: Review and correct the references using our web-based interface (RefCheck)

• Accessing RefCheck: Click "Check References" to review your citations. Use Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari for optimal performance. 
• All instructions for the authors are provided at the top of the RefCheck web page. Importantly, authors only need to confirm and save the references that appear with a red dash in the top-right corner. This indicates missing or incomplete mandatory fields (*) that require your correction.
• Always use the PMID/DOI/ISBN lookup tool when available to auto-populate missing fields (PMIDs are preferred over DOIs for accuracy). 
• Address any copyeditor comments left in RefCheck. Once checked and saved, references will display a green checkmark.
• Adding, deleting, or reordering references: All references must be explicitly cited in the manuscript body. We strongly recommend against making reference changes at this stage. You cannot directly reorder references, add/delete them, or swap/replace a reference in RefCheck. To simply omit an unused reference without adding a new one, remove its in-text bracketed citation (e.g., [1]) from the manuscript
• If you need to add, delete, or replace a reference, you must request approval and assistance from your copyeditor or email us at copyed-support@jmir.org. 
• See detailed guidance: What is the RefCheck process for authors? (copyediting step 2b). 

3. Step 2c - METADATA: Review the metadata

• Why metadata matters: The author information from our web-based metadata form is used to generate the table of contents as well as the author index. It is essential that this information is correct, complete, and consistent with your final processed manuscript.
• Preview PDF: You will have the opportunity to preview the metadata (title page, authorship, and abstract) during Step 2. Because authors cannot edit metadata directly during Step 2, any changes must be requested through your copyeditor. 
• Please circulate the preview PDF among your coauthors so everyone can verify their details before the submitting user completes this step. 
• Formatting instructions:
  • Verify that all authorship information is correct, including the order of authors, middle names (eg, "Smith AJ" instead of "Smith A"), degrees, affiliations, and correspondence information. 
  • Author degrees should be listed chronologically from lowest (earliest obtained) to highest.
  • If authors have multiple affiliations, ALL affiliations must be entered. Do not use short forms or acronyms; for example, an affiliation like "Nursing" should be changed into "Department of Nursing", and acronyms like "UHN" should be expanded (eg, "University Health Network").
  • City names, if from the US or Canada, should be followed by the state/province abbreviation (eg, "Bethesda, MD" or "Toronto, ON").
  • A footnote "these authors contributed equally" will be rendered for any two or more authors where the "equal contribution" dropdown selection is set to "yes". This can be used to indicate if, for example, the first two authors or the first and last author contributed "equally" (it is at the discretion of authors to determine what this means). If all authors are checked, a footnote "All authors contributed equally" will be rendered. However, rather than (or in addition to) using these footnotes, we encourage a section "Authors' Contributions" in the manuscript, which specifies the exact contributions.
• Corresponding Author Policy: JMIR Publications allows only one corresponding author per manuscript. No exceptions will be permitted.

4. Step 2d - Figures and Multimedia Appendices: Review the Figures and Multimedia Appendices intended for publication, including their captions

• Under the "SUPPLEMENTARY AND FIGURE/APPENDIX FILES" section below, ensure all figures and multimedia appendices intended for publication are numbered and explicitly cited within the manuscript body.
• Review all captions for accuracy. Do not include "Figure #" or "Multimedia Appendix #" in your caption text, as these labels will be automatically generated in the final publication. 
• Image formatting: Upload all figures in PNG format with the largest side set to 1200 pixels.  
• Updating files: If you need to revise any Multimedia Appendices, upload them as separate files rather than embedding them in the main manuscript.
• See our detailed guide: Guidelines for supplementary files (figures, multimedia appendices, additional material for reviewers/editors only)

 5. MARK STEP 2 COMPLETE

• Once you finish Step 2a (uploading your revised manuscript) and Step 2b (verifying references in RefCheck), click "Complete copyediting step 2 and notify copyeditor" to submit your work for Step 3 (the final copyediting stage).
• Important Note: Your copyeditor cannot access your uploaded files or proceed until you click this button to officially complete Step 2.

Related:

• Step 2a How do I respond to copyeditors' queries?
• Step 2b What is the RefCheck process?
• Step 2c How do I edit/correct/enter article metadata before publication?
• Step 2d What are the guidelines for supplementary files?