FAQs for Reviewers

Q1: How can I become a reviewer for IEEE TMI?

A1: First, you need to register for a ScholarOne Manuscripts (S1M) account. On the home page of ScholarOne Manuscripts, click the “Register here” link under the New User? tab. Once registered, you will automatically have two role centers under your account—the Author and Review center – where you can perform different tasks.

Second, register as a new TMI reviewer.

The Associate Editor (AE) who is assigned to handle a paper is responsible for selecting reviewers. The AE chooses potential reviewers from 1) a private list of reviewers with known specialties accumulated by the AE over the years, 2) recommended reviewers by the Reviewer Locator powered by Web of Science, and 3) results of keyword and areas of expertise search in the ScholarOne Manuscripts.

Growing your professional reputation, i.e. publishing and networking, in the medical imaging community would be helpful for you to make to the AE’s private list and/or the recommended list by Reviewer Locator. Defining your keywords (next FAQ below) and areas of expertise accurately will help the AE to find you. It is better to be specific on your areas of expertise such as “MR pulse sequence design” and “noise reduction in CT”, rather than broad terms like “medical image analysis”.

You may also contact appropriate AEs to request to be added to his/her private list. All TMI AEs are listed on the Editorial Board page along with their personal website links.

Q2: How do I update my keywords?

A2:

1. Log in to the S1M website for IEEE TMI at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tmi-ieee.

2. Click the downward arrow next to your name in the top-right corner.

3. Check and keep your name, affiliation, and e-mail information up-to-date.

4. Select ‘User ID & Password’.

5. (See the screenshot below) Enter your areas of expertise in free-form (your own words).

6. (See the screenshot below) Select your specialty Keywords from the list on the left, and click the Add button to save your selection to your profile.

Q3: I will not be available to review for TMI for a certain period of time therefore would prefer not to receive review invitations for a certain period of time. How can I pass this information to TMI?

A3: First follow the steps 1 – 4 in A2, then scroll down until you see the section Unavailable Dates. Enter the start and end dates that you will not be available.

Q4: I have a ScholarOne Manuscripts account but received a review invitation that contains another one. What can I do?

A4: There are many duplicate accounts in the ScholarOne Manuscripts due to various reasons. If you suspect that you have duplicate accounts, contact the Editorial Office specifying the full name of the account holder, e-mail addresses associated with duplicate accounts and be sure to indicate which one is the primary e-mail address you want to use. We will merge the duplicate accounts into a single one associated with the primary e-mail address you choose. The review and submission history of all accounts will also be merged together.

Q5: I received a review invitation about an interesting paper but I’m not sure if I will have enough time to perform the review. What can I do?

A5: It is OK to decline the invitation if you don’t have time. If you want to review the paper but expect a delay, please contact the AE and let them know how much of a delay is expected. The AE will consider whether he/she will choose you as a reviewer under these circumstances. Please don’t hesitate to contact the AE with any issues because one of the main difficulties for AE in selecting reviewers is the invitations with no replies. Please be sure to reply to the invitation in time, no matter what your answer is—this will also increase the chance of being selected in the future.

Q6: I cannot finish my review before the due date. What can I do?

A6: We understand that the reviewers have many important things to do and may return the review late. When you are expecting any delay in preparing the review, please contact the Editorial Office at rutao.yao@ieee.org and/or your AE and let us know when you can return the review. We will decide if the due date in the ScholarOne Manuscripts system should be changed. Such an extension request sent to the Editorial Office during normal business hours will be processed within 12 hours; most of them are processed immediately. Note, if the reviewer indicates that he/she will return the review within a week, the Editorial Office may decide not to change the due date and the reviewer may receive further e-mail reminders.

Q7: Why do I receive so many e-mail reminders?

A7: Again, we understand that the reviewers have many important things to do and may return the review late. The most serious problem we have is not knowing when and whether a late review will be returned. The AE can expedite the review process by removing reviewers, inviting more reviewers or reducing number of required reviewers, but hearing nothing from the late reviewers often prevents the AE from taking such measures. The e-mail reminders—the main communication channel we use—are therefore necessary. Note, the times of these reminders are configured with respect to the review due date. If the reviewer’s request for extension is granted, the number of reminders he/she will receive will decrease.