3
Now you need to find appropriate people to read the papers and pass an opinion on
whether or not the paper is worth publishing and if any corrections of a non-editorial
nature are needed. Referees may well not be Club members - they must simply be
qualified to comment on the subject area of the paper. The author then either gets a pre-
printed letter from you saying that his/her paper is accepted or else you have to send it
back with a courteous note asking for the referees comments to be considered (did anyone
spot the deliberately split infinitive in this paragraph?). 1 can supply copies of all these
standard letters as Word files for a PC.
Now you need to obtain a cover photograph. This should relate to something in the
volume you are preparing. Be strong enough to tell a photographer that the photo is not
actually as brilliant as he or she thinks it is!
When content-corrected papers are received you can make editorial corrections - to
ensure that all contributions follow our house style. Attention to detail is required. By
now it will be September and you need to make contact with Cravitz Printing in
Brentwood, again, to warn then that things are about to be sent. If you have e-mail you
can now send it all direct to Cravitz; if not, a floppy disk will need to be posted. There
will inevitably be some contributions on paper as well and you will also need to post or
deliver the photograph.
A few weeks later, Andrew (at Cravitz) will send you galley proofs. These you need to
cut up and send to the authors for error correction, keeping a copy yourself so that whilst
authors are checking their copies, you can be mocking up pages and looking for gaps that
may require short notes or book reviews to fill them. If you find any you need to ask
potential authors for such short communications. At the same time as sending the galleys,
you also need to send authors a reprint order form. You need collected proofs back by
early October. When they come back, review the corrections and make sure that you
agree with them - often I don't! Watch out for authors who add extra pages of text - not
allowed at this stage unless it suits your page making. Your decision will be final so be
sure of yourself. Now you send the corrected proofs back to Cravitz together with your
instructions for the order in which articles must appear. Cravitz will respond with page
proofs a few days later. You need to check these (for example, make sure all reviewed
papers start on a right-hand page or else you will need to order more copies in order to
have enough reprints). Return these, with final corrections and an official order for
printing, to Cravitz and sit back until the journal appears. Almost finished! After
publication, you need to send authors their reprints. That's it. Done for another year!
So - volunteers please step forward. Get in touch with me direct and then come and
visit my study so I can actually show you what is what (I also edit the Entomologists
Record six times a year so there is always something in process for you to see). It sounds
a lot but if you get organised its really very easy. Full training and support will be given
by me if required and all standard letters are available on my computer. I will also take
you to meet the printers so you can see what's what.
Contact me - Colin Plant - by telephone or fax on 01279 507697 or via e-mail at
Colinwplant@compuserve.com or write to me at 14 West Road, Bishops Stortford, Herts
CM23 3QP.
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 27, November 1998