Frequently Asked Questions
- When will my article be published?
- What is Articles in Advance?
- My paper has published and I found a mistake. What now?
- I’ve got a great new job! Can I update my article to reflect my current affiliation?
- Can my figures appear in color?
- May I include my professional title in my affiliation?
- May I cite references in the abstract of my paper?
- May I include equations or math in my abstract?
- How do I mark corrections to my page proofs?
- What if I need more time to review and correct my page proofs?
- Do I have to answer each and every author query?
- I have a query asking if I have permission to use a figure or table. What does that mean?
- How should page proofs be returned to the production editor?
- Can I review the edits made by your copy editors?
- My research is funded by NIH, will INFORMS deposit my published article in PubMed Central?
General FAQs
Question: When will my article be published?
Answer: Unless directed otherwise by the editor-in-chief (EiC) , INFORMS will post your article online ahead of print in Articles in Advance as soon as it has completed the initial production process (including receiving your page proofs). The production time for your article is dependent on several factors. Although your production editor may not be able to provide an exact Articles-in-Advance publication date, he or she can give you a general idea when it will appear online after the page proofs have been returned. The EiC of your journal selects the lineup for each issue two to three months before the issue is scheduled to mail.
Question: What is Articles in Advance?
Answer: In an effort to continue the mission of education in the OR/MS community, INFORMS initiated Articles in Advance, the release of peer-reviewed, revised, typeset, copyedited, and author-approved articles made available online in advance of their appearance in a printed issue. The content of the Articles in Advance version of an article is the same that will appear in the printed issue of the journal, minus the assignment of page numbers and volume/issue numbers. An article will remain in the journal’s Articles in Advance section until it is printed. Visit http://journals.informs.org/site/misc/ifora.xhtml for more detailed information including FAQs related to Articles in Advance.
My paper has published and I found a mistake. What now?
Answer: INFORMS considers work published once the copyedited, typeset version has been disseminated for public view; this includes Articles in Advance (AiA) and/or articles printed in an issue. Once articles have been released online ahead of print, they can only be removed from AiA by assigning them to an issue. If a significant error in a published article is discovered, a correction, erratum, or retraction may be published. For more information about a specific article, please contact the manager of publications.
I’ve got a great new job! Can I update my article to reflect my current affiliation?
Answer: It depends. Our goal is to publish the location of the author at the time the paper was accepted. However, a production editor can change the affiliation of an article before it is published online ahead of print in Articles in Advance (AiA) during the page proof stage. Because the AiA version is considered the version of record, no significant changes---including authors’ affiliations---can be made after the paper is published on AiA. If an author relocates between the time the paper appears on AiA and in an issue, the production editor can change the author’s email address and add the author’s current affiliation at the end of the acknowledgments section. This will be done as the article is being prepared to appear in an issue. After the article has appeared in an issue, no corrections can be made without an erratum, which must be approved by the editor-in-chief.
Question: Can my figures appear in color?
Answer: When you present the final version of your paper to the EiC, clarify exactly which figures you would like to have printed in color. Please note that the authors of a paper must pay a fee for each article page printed in color; the production editor will provide a cost estimate when your paper is sent into production or upon request.
Question: May I include my professional title in my affiliation?
Answer: It is INFORMS’ style never to include author titles in an affiliation. Include only your department, institution, city, state or country, and postal code, as well as your e-mail address. Note that all street addresses will be omitted from the affiliation line but must be provided to the production editor.
Question: May I cite references in the abstract of my paper?
Answer: It is INFORMS’ style not to cite references in the abstract of a paper. In those rare instances in which an author believes that he or she must cite a reference source in an abstract, the entire reference must be written parenthetically.
Question: May I include equations or math in my abstract?
Answer: It is important that your abstract not contain mathematical notation that may be difficult to properly present in Web browsers. The abstract is not only a part of the full article (print and online) but, more importantly, serves as the only free-to-all record of your paper. It is reused and remapped by a variety of online portals and metadata databases, some of which are text only. Please provide a text-only abstract, or, if that is absolutely impossible, try to minimize the use of math symbols, and please completely avoid accented variables.
FAQs when Reviewing Page Proofs
Reviewing and returning page proofs is the responsibility of the corresponding author. After a manuscript has been typeset and copyedited the authors are given the opportunity to review the edits and appearance of their article. They are not, however, allowed to make significant changes to the “science” or changes that go against the INFORMS editorial style. Your production editor is responsible for reviewing and approving your page proof changes. Due to tight production schedules, production editors are not permitted to provide “second” proofs of the articles. Production editors can send particular pages for a second look, but authors are required to review and approve them within a few hours of receipt; failing to do so is a confirmation that the changes were made correctly.
Question: How do I mark corrections to my page proofs?
Answer: You have a few options:
- Use blue or black ink to write corrections directly on the page proofs. The copyedited version is strictly for your reference; it does not need to be returned.
- Write corrections in list form in an e-mail or MS Word document noting the location of each correction by page, column, and line, or by author query number.
- Use Adobe Acrobat’s comment tool.
Question: What if I need more time to review and correct my page proofs?
Answer: Contact your production editor as soon as possible. Delays in returning page proofs can result in publication delays, in print and online. If your article has been scheduled for publication and you have not returned your page proofs on time, the editor may pull it from the issue.
Question: Do I have to answer each and every author query?
Answer: Yes, it is necessary and very important that you answer each query, even if you think the paper does not require correction. Sometimes, queries are asking for updated information (references) or for missing citations of figures or tables in the text. Failing to answer your queries delays the production of your article.
Question: I have a query asking if I have permission to use a figure or table. What does that mean?
Answer: Authors are responsible for ensuring they have the right to reprint figures and tables published previously. Please review the Rights & Permissions page.
Question: How should page proofs be returned to the production editor?
Answer: The corresponding author must return one copy of the page proofs. You have several options:
- Scan or list and attach a to an e-mail.
- Fax them to 443-757-3514.
- Mail them to your production editor via express mail.
Question: Can I review the edits made by your copyeditors?
Answer: Every article that enters the production process goes through a two-step editing process. The first is an automatic conversion to our format; the second is done by a professional copyeditor either by hand or electronically. It is the latter version that is available by request as a PDF with either hand marks or Microsoft Word’s Tracked Changes.
My research is funded by NIH, will INFORMS deposit my published article?
NIH Public Access Policy: The author is responsible for complying and INFORMS has no obligation to notify an NIH-funded author about the requirement. INFORMS follows Method C of NIH's submission methods guidelines (see http://publicaccess.nih.gov/submit_process.htm).
