Scientific publication

Abstract

The integrated management of a scientific journal using a digital system that operates from any place with access to the Internet allows the monitoring of an article from the submission to the publication as in the Electronic Journal Publishing System (SEER, Soares et al., 2004). This represents a great progress in the editorial process not only for saving paper and mail costs, but mainly for fostering the editor's communication with the authors and reviewers. The editor should be extremely careful in fomenting that interaction. The motivation for publications varies among submitters and could affect the different phases of the publication process. Many students submit manuscripts to accomplish course requirements and when they have to face the revision process they give up since they already accomplished the requirement and don't want to invest the necessary time for improving their article. The editor has the role of intermediating interactions in search of quality improvement. The editor should be more than a transmitter of the reviewers' observations; he should also interpret the suggestions and interact with the authors to guarantee that the revisions are appropriately implemented for the sake of the article improvement. When closing the first volume, the editorial board of Ambi-Água has the satisfaction of manifesting that the continuous interaction with the authors and reviewers resulted in a minimum processing time from the submission to the journal issue publication.