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As an author, there are many ways that you can help to accelerate the versioning process. Want to learn how?

Lois Elliott, Business Administration Apprentice with F1000Research, outlines a how-to-guide for the F1000Research blog, detailing her 10 easy steps for guaranteeing a smooth publication process. 

At F1000Research, all our articles are ‘living’, meaning that authors can revise or update their articles, either in response to reviewers’ comments or if there have been small developments relevant to the initial findings. This helps to ensure that articles are always up to date and responsive to scientific discussions.

Here, I outline 10 easy steps for ensuring a smooth publication process when submitting a new version of your article.

1 – Download the latest version

Throughout the editorial and proofing process, you may have made slight changes to your article. Therefore, we ask that you make your revisions to the latest published version of your manuscript.

To download this version, you can go to the ‘My Submissions‘ page – the article will be listed under the ‘Published’ tab. Then, download a copy in either DOC or RFT format.

2 – Track those changes!

Before you start to revise this document, please remember to switch on track changes (see our diagram below). Otherwise, we will not be able to view your corrections.

3 – Figures and tables

Adding new figures and tables to your manuscript?

Then there are several things that you need to remember.

Firstly, make sure you have fully cited and discussed them in the article text. Next, remember to provide us with their titles and legends.

Done that?

Then you also need to make sure that your figures have high resolution (preferably 300 dpi) and are in an accessible format (saved as either an EPS or TIFF file).

Now all there is to do is to upload them!

Figures should be uploaded separately as part of your submission. For tables, you can either edit them directly within the revised manuscript (don’t forget, with track changes turned on!) or you can upload them as separate files on the submission form.

4 – References and bibliography 

If you have removed sections from your manuscript, then make sure you have also removed any references that are no longer needed (including their in-text citations).

If you are adding new references, then feel free to include them at the end of the current reference list. Don’t worry about re-ordering, we will correct the order during the typesetting process – just make sure that you have fully cited the new references in the main text.

5 – Author list changes

Do your changes include an author addition or removal?

If they do, then please remember to provide us with the reasoning behind this change, helping to ensure transparency at all stages of the publication process.

Remember, if you’re adding authors to your manuscript then you need to include their affiliations, email address and CRediT roles.

Finally, we require all co-authors to approve the author list changes – so let them know to keep an eye out for an email from us!

6 – Get permission!

If you are adding or updating your acknowledgements section and you are mentioning others by name, then we require that you obtain permission from all those included. Then, all there is to do is to include a note in your submission to let us know that you have got their permission.

The same goes if you are reusing or adapting a figure or table from a copyrighted publication. As the author, you are responsible for obtaining permission from the copyright holder and for the payment of any fees (if applicable). Please include a note in the legend to state that: ‘This figure/table has been reproduced with permission from [include original publication citation]’.

7 – Sharing is caring… so share your data!

A big part of F1000Research’s model is open data.

What is ‘open data’? Find out more, here >>

For this reason, if you have data or source code that has been deposited in a repository, we ask that you ensure that the repository is up to date and reflects the amendments made in the new version of the article. 

F1000Research no longer hosts supplementary material. So, if your initial version included supplementary material hosted on our website, then we ask that as part of your revisions, that you add this data to a repository. Please also include this material in the article’s Data Availability section as ‘Extended data’. 

If you want to learn more about open data, then take a look at our open data policy.

8 – Responses at the ready

There are plenty of benefits to the F1000Research open peer review model. As an author, one of the main ones is that you can openly respond to the points that your reviewers have made, furthering the scientific discussion around your initial article.

So, to upload your responses to peer review reports, please click ‘respond to this report’ under the report you wish to respond to.

For tips on how to structure your peer review responses take a look at our handy guide.

9 – Keep us in the loop: write an Update Text!

When submitting a new version, you will need to provide an Update Text (300 words max). This text is displayed beneath the abstract of your new version and needs to contain specific information detailing all revisions made, including:

• changes to the text,
• new or revised/updated figures,
• updates to the author list,
• additional data or code.

10 – Finally, hit ‘Submit’!

Don’t fall at the last hurdle – a new version of an article can only be submitted by the author who submitted the previous version. Crucially, we only accept submissions via our online submission forms, so please don’t email your submissions to us!

And that’s it – now you’re ready to submit your new version!

You can submit a new version now by clicking here.

Bonus tip

If you have followed the steps above, you are sure to have gotten your new version off to a good start. But, as an extra tip, make sure you are available to answer queries from our editorial team. After all, we are here to ensure that your research is published as quickly as possible!