A manuscript enters production at Hindawi once it completes final quality checks and is accepted for publication. For many authors, production might seem like the waiting time between acceptance, and receiving your proofs ahead of publication. Hindawi's production process is divided into three main parts: graphics and copyediting stages, proofing, and final manuscript checks. Each step of the production process is explained in more detail below.
Graphics and copyediting stages
All of our journals follow a universal Hindawi style. We do this to preserve the manuscript's original language as much as possible and to provide a consistent approach from submission right through to publication. That's why we have a format-free submission process, as authors don’t need to supply a set format when we can copyedit and format the final manuscript in production.
All figures are very lightly edited in production. We conduct language checks on figure text and formatting checks to remove any elements that might jeopardise final figure quality. Hindawi also has a light copyediting level, as our main priority is preserving your original voice and the manuscript's scientific and mathematical meaning. That's why we also add a comment to your proof for any substantial amendments, as we want to be fully confident that our edits reflect your original intentions.
Proofing at Hindawi
A manuscript proof link will be delivered to the corresponding author of the manuscript via email. Your proofs will be sent to you in a website-ready format, and you'll have the option to directly edit the body of your proofs, respond to our comments, and even add queries of your own. If you want to see a second round of proofs, you can request this to see how your comments have been implemented. You can also raise a question to the production team by responding to the proof email, and the journal's Production Editor will be in touch to assist.
Final manuscript checks
The journal's Production Editor conducts final manuscript checks before publication. They will review the final manuscript alongside your proof comments and flag any changes to the production team. Once your manuscript is ready, the Production Editor will release your manuscript for publication. You will receive an email with a confirmation of the publication date, the final DOI, and a link to your manuscript. The manuscript will then be sent out to all the relevant indexers for that journal.
We are continually looking for ways to improve our processes, and make the publication experience as streamlined and hassle-free as possible for authors. Our ultimate goal is to create efficient workflows that can swiftly disseminate research to our publishing platforms. We value feedback from authors to keep our workflows consistent and streamline production across all journals.
This blog post is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). The illustration is by Hindawi and is also CC-BY.