ArticleTrack™ Production Tracking and Content Management Services

ArticleTrack is a stand-alone, web-based content management system for scholarly journals, books, and reference works. The system enables scheduling and management of tasks such as copyediting, author proofing, composition, and issue management. ArticleTrack is an enterprise-class solution that enables commercial and not-for-profit publishers to efficiently deliver top-quality publications in the fast-changing world of publishing.

Benefits
 

• Rationalization of content production workflow
• Reduced time to publication
• Increased control over cost and content-related production tasks
• The ability to rapidly “retool” production processes to create innovative publications and respond to competitors
• Integration with editorial and peer review systems
• Publishers using web-based peer review systems can also automatically import files and XML metadata directly into the system upon final editorial acceptance for publication
   

Features
 

Functionality
Production management of scholarly publications is a complex, multifaceted, and often idiosyncratic process that changes over time. This means that custom, hard-coded systems cannot meet the requirements of differing publications long enough to provide a viable return on investment or respond to changes in the competitive environment. Allen Press application support staff can make real-time modifications to configurations and content workflow to address your organizational changes over time.

Role management
Your organization can define an unlimited number of production roles. Each role has its own profile, which determines the functionality available to a user with that role designation. For example, one role can be defined with the power to assign production tasks, whereas another may not have this privilege. Powerful “proxying” capabilities allow appropriately authorized administrators to push through tasks that have been assigned to other users.

E-mail communication
The system can be configured with an unlimited number of e-mail template letters in HTML or plain text format. Letters appear in appropriate drop-down menus (e.g., during task assignment) or can be sent by automatic workflow events. As appropriate, letters can be modified by users in real time and include useful merge fields such as manuscript title.

Details and history
A historical audit trail provides one-click access to all transactions, letters, and status changes associated with each manuscript. Metadata associated with the manuscript (e.g., production notes, author information) are accessible at the click of a mouse. Production notes can be maintained at the manuscript level and/or associated with a particular schedule group.

Production tasks
Administrators can define an unlimited number of production tasks. Each task has its own parameters such as name, assignment e-mail letters, target completion time frame, and designated assignee (e.g., author, copy editor). Production tasks are assigned and tracked by authorized users and marked as completed when assignees have submitted their work and uploaded appropriately modified files.

Companion files
Each manuscript is accompanied by companion files that constitute “work in progress.” Appropriately authorized users can check in and check out companion files based on task assignment.

Schedule groups
Schedule groups are typically used to aggregate manuscripts into publication groups such as print issues. Each schedule group carries its own metadata, such as target publication date and page budgets. Manuscripts can be added or removed from schedule groups by appropriately authorized production staff.

Reports and management tools
Reporting tools identify users with pending or late production tasks and trigger reminder e-mails. The production status grid displays the status of each production task for all the manuscripts designated to a specific schedule group. This means that issue managers can assess the production status of an individual issue and take corrective action as needed. Reliable hosting infrastructure provides disaster recovery, security, and continuity of service; ArticleTrack stores data that are mission critical to publishing enterprises. Disaster recovery, continuity of service, and data security are essential attributes of this enterprise-class system.

PrePrint Manager® is a registered trademark and property of Aries Systems Corp.