The Associate Editor (EA) is a crucial figure for the quality and integrity of publications in the Miscellanea INGV journals . It is the EA who initially evaluates manuscripts , determining their relevance to the editorial line and their potential for publication.

The Key Role of the Associate Editor

The EA does not limit itself to this initial selection, but actively manages the entire peer review process : it identifies expert reviewers, coordinates their feedback and, at the same time, performs a first level of in-depth editing on the texts. This preliminary editing focuses on clarity, coherence, grammar, spelling and punctuation , ensuring that each contribution respects the standards of the journal from the early stages.

The following is a detailed description of the review process for submitted articles, with specific emphasis on your key responsibilities as an Associate Editor.

Assigning the article

The Editor in Chief will assign you the article through the Editorial Office, which will send you the manuscript along with the official assignment email.

 

Initial review of the manuscript and verification of originality. 

Your first and crucial step is to examine the manuscript and verify its originality. This preliminary evaluation is essential to ensure that the work is in line with the standards of the journal before proceeding to external review. Furthermore, although the Editorial Office performs a preliminary formal evaluation of each manuscript to ensure that it complies with the INGV Miscellanea Guidelines , you are asked to evaluate the conformity of the manuscript. If necessary, the manuscript will be returned to the Authors with the request to re-submit it after having adjusted it to the standards required by the Guidelines themselves.

For a manuscript submitted to Miscellanea INGV the same rules apply as for the other two publications (see below), however given the heterogeneity of the typology of the contributions that can be published in this series, the work may require ad hoc formatting or present different needs. It will therefore be up to the good sense of the EA to evaluate, based on the typology of the work, the correctness or otherwise of the drafting of the manuscript. 

The general rules to be checked by the EA are the following characteristics: 

• Frontispiece elements:
• Title: provided in Italian and English. If the text is entirely in English, the title will be in English only
• Authors : full name and surname
• Affiliations : for INGV authors written according to presidential dictates
• Short title for the header in case the sum of the characters of the original title is greater than 75 (including spaces)
• ORCID of all authors
• keywords: 3 Italian and 3 English. If the text is entirely in English, isolate 3 in English

• Unnumbered index
• Summary (both in English and Italian, only in English if text in English) not numbered
• Unnumbered introduction
• Text divided into paragraphs and numbered subparagraphs
• Unnumbered bibliography
• Sitography (if present) not numbered 

Furthermore, that: 

• in articles in Italian, words in a foreign language or specialist terms should be written in italics

• the text has numbered lines
• the images must be cited in the text, numbered and accompanied by an Italian/English caption, only English for texts in English
• bibliographic citations should be inserted in the text between square brackets and written in a uniform manner as per the Authors' guidelines

• Web site citations should be inserted in the text in square brackets with a progressive number and written in a uniform manner as per the guidelines 

 

Selection of Reviewers

After your initial assessment, you have the option to review the manuscript yourself or, more commonly, to identify and select suitable external reviewers (peer reviewers). Please choose reviewers with relevant experience to the content of the manuscript.

 

Communication of the Auditor's choices

Once you have chosen the reviewers, please communicate their names and email addresses to the Editorial Office. It will also be useful to specify whether you have already contacted these Reviewers in advance to verify their availability.

 

Assigning the article to the Reviewers

The Editorial Office will formally send the manuscript and the dedicated Reviewer Questionnaire to the selected Reviewers. The Editorial Office will remind the reviewer of the deadline for submitting the review and the link to the Reviewer Guidelines.

 

Evaluation of review feedback and your consent

Once the Editorial Office receives the completed reviews from the Reviewers, they will forward these results to you. We kindly ask you to carefully review this feedback and provide your final approval or comments to the Editorial Office within one working week . Your critical evaluation of the Reviewers' reports is essential before communicating with the Authors.

 

Definition of Decision Letter

Based on the Reviewer reports and your evaluation, the Editorial Office will prepare the official acceptance or rejection letter. This letter will require your signature. You also have the opportunity to add any additional comments you deem appropriate for the Authors.

 

Notification to Authors

Finally, the Editorial Secretariat will manage the final communication, sending the acceptance or rejection letter directly to the Authors, together with the completed reviewers' questionnaires.