Editorial Workflow ...

The Northeastern Naturalist has established the following timeline goals for the review process to help ensure thorough, but timely handling of all submissions.

1. Within 1 workday of submission, authors sent acknowledgment and request for any missing confirmations or materials.
2. Review process initiated within 1 workday of receiving all needed confirmations and materials.
3. Manuscripts assigned and sent to Manuscript Editor within 2 weeks of submission.
4. Manuscript Editor to send manuscript out to two reviewers within 10 days of taking assignment.
5. Reviewers and editor to complete assessment within 4 weeks.
6. Manuscript Editor to contact authors with decision within 2 weeks of receiving reviewer comments.
7. If revision is requested, authors to make revisions and return reworked manuscript to Manuscript Editor within 4 weeks.
8. Manuscript Editor to review revised manuscript and either send back to authors for additional revisions or confirm that the manuscript is acceptable for publication within 1 week of receipt of revised manuscript.
9. Manuscript Editor in cooperation with authors, will get all accepted materials to Production staff, who will then process accepted manuscripts in the order they are received. Manuscripts will be copyedited and then laid out in galley form. After an in-house proofreading, the galley proofs are then sent to the Manuscript Editor and authors for review prior to publication.
10. Manuscript Editor and Author to review and return galley edits within 2 weeks.
11. Production staff will then make corrections and send authors the pdf reprint within 2 weeks for final review prior to publication.

Thus, authors can expect to hear back with an initial decision within 10 weeks from time of submission. Time to final decision will depend on extent of revisions needed (and hence amount of time authors need to make the revisions and editors need to review them) and time to publication on current inflow of accepted manuscripts, but generally we strive for publication within 6 months from the time of submission.