The most common cause is a submission that was started and saved but never finished. The record exists and your files are in it, but until the last step is confirmed it does not reach an editor and it appears in no list on our side.
You are not imagining it, and it is not lost. It is sitting at whichever step you stopped on.
Check it yourself, in four steps
- Sign in to {{journal}} with the account you used.
- Go to Submissions.
- Look for your title in the list. An unfinished submission shows an amber status reading Not yet submitted.
- Open it. The form reopens at the step you stopped on, with everything you had already entered still in place.
The steps, and what each one means
| Step | You had got as far as |
|---|---|
| Start | Section, language and the submission checklist |
| Details | Title and abstract, both required; keywords, which are optional |
| Files | Uploading the manuscript |
| Contributors | Adding co-authors, each with a competing-interests statement |
| Review | The final confirmation screen, with everything filled in |
Most unfinished submissions stop at Details, and usually for one reason: the abstract. It is required, and it is capped at 300 words. The form shows a live count under the box, and if it reads more than 300 the page will not move on. Keywords are asked for but are not required, and they never block you. See Abstract requirements and word limits.
If you stopped at Review, everything was complete and only the final confirmation was missing. That step is the one that hands the manuscript to the journal.
If you cannot see it in your list
Two things to check before writing to us:
- You may be signed in to a different ASIDE journal from the one you submitted to. The account is the same across journals, but each journal has its own list.
- You may have registered twice with two email addresses. Check the other address.
If it is still not there, write to contact@asidejournals.com with the journal, the title of the manuscript, and the email address on your account. We will look for the record and tell you what we find, including if there is nothing.
If you would rather we finish it with you
Say so. We can look at the record, tell you exactly which step it stopped on and what is missing from it, and go through the remaining fields with you. Nothing has to be re-uploaded.
What happens once it is completed
The submission goes to the journal, it becomes visible to the editorial office, and a status appears for it on your submission page. See Reading your status banner.