Monash University Publishing: Advancing knowledge

Guidelines on Publishing Procedure

1. Introduction

This document sets out the procedure for Monash University Editorial Boards, authors and editors of works commissioned by these Boards, Monash University Publishing, and the Monash University Publishing Advisory Committee, to work together.

It also outlines the requirements for the supply and format of all text and support material for the proposed work.

2. The responsibility of each party

2.1 The author

Submitted works must:

  • be original and not under consideration (in either print or electronic form) by another publisher,

  • acknowledge the source of any copyright materials,

  • not infringe the copyright held by other parties,

  • contain no defamatory material.

2.2 The Editorial Board

Where a work is commissioned by an Editorial Board, that Board will arrange for it to be peer reviewed. At least two referee reports will be obtained (at least one external to Monash University).

The Editorial Board will assign a Managing Editor to each work selected for publication.

The Editorial Board will facilitate discussions between the author(s), editor(s), Monash University Publishing and any other party with a material interest in the publication (such as a representative from a School) necessary for satisfactory finalisation of the publication’s Business Plan.

The Editorial Board will provide to Monash University Publishing:

If an index is required, unless agreed otherwise as part of the Business Plan, the Managing Editor will arrange for this to be provided at the end of the production process.

The Editorial Board will discuss publication, launch (where required) and marketing plans for the publication with Monash University Publishing.

2.3 Monash University Publishing

Monash University Publishing will be responsible for the production, pricing and promotion of the electronic and print forms of the work and for all other business aspects of the publication of the work.

Monash University Publishing will develop a Business Plan for the publication in consultation with the Editorial Board, the author(s) or editor(s) and any other parties with a material interest in the publication (such as a School).

Monash University Publishing will supply to the author(s) or editor(s) and any other parties with a material interest in the publication (such as a School) a contract consistent with the Business Plan.

Monash University Publishing is able to source and administer professional copyediting, proofreading, indexing and electronic file preparation but may charge a fee for this service. In these cases Monash University Publishing will obtain approval for costings acquired and, after publication, request an Internal Debit Note (IDN) payment from the author(s), editor(s), School or Faculty, as agreed.

Monash University Publishing will publish the work according to a mutually agreed schedule.

Monash University Publishing will supply to the author, in accordance with the production schedule:

  • first proofs of the work,

  • second proofs of the work,

  • a cover proof (where required).

Monash University Publishing reserves the right to determine the means by which this material is supplied to the author.

2.4 Monash University Publishing Advisory Committee

The Monash University Publishing Advisory Committee, comprising Faculty Editorial Board members and other Monash and external stakeholders, determines the broad strategic direction of Monash University Publishing and ensures that proper processes of operation, especially those necessary for the maintenance of high standards of scholarship, are maintained.

The Advisory Committee may also provide advice to the Monash University Publishing Manager on the selection of referees for works by non-Monash authors and by Monash authors working in areas not covered by the established Editorial Boards.

The Advisory Committee will only recommend the rejection of a work recommended for publication by an Editorial Board (with referee reports provided in accordance with the Monash University Publishing Guidelines on Peer Review) if it believes Monash University Publishing does not have sufficient resources to publish the work within the timeframe agreed by the Editorial Board and Monash University Publishing, or if it believes publication of the work will put Monash University Publishing in breach of University regulations or Australian State or Federal law.

3. Publishing procedure

3. 1 All authors should in the first instance email a completed Book Proposal Form to the Monash University Publishing Manager at submissions.publishing@monash.edu.

Proposals from Monash authors which fall within the disciplinary area of an Editorial Board will be forwarded to the Chair of that Board. (Go to step 3.2.)

Proposals from non-Monash authors, and from Monash authors whose work doesn't fall within a discipline covered by an Editorial Board, will be assessed by the Monash University Publishing Manager, who will act as the Managing Editor of the manuscript; if the proposal is of sufficient interest and quality, the Manager will submit the manuscript to peer review. (Go to step 3.5.)

3.2 The Chair of the Editorial Board will, in consultation with the Board, make an initial assessment of the proposal and decide if the proposal is of sufficient interest and quality to proceed to processes of peer review.

3.3 If it is decided that the proposal should be rejected the Chair of the Editorial Board will pass this decision on to the Manager, who will inform the proposer and pass on any feedback provided by the Editorial Board Chair.

3.4 If it is decided that the proposal should be subjected to peer review the Editorial Board Chair will designate an Editorial Board member as a Managing Editor for the publication.

3.5 The Managing Editor will set up a meeting with the author(s) or editor(s), the Monash University Publishing Manager, and any other parties with a material interest in the publication (such as a representative from the author(s)’ or editor(s)’ School). At the meeting the basic terms of the Business Plan for the publication will be determined:

  • professional copy-editing, proof-reading, indexing and electronic file preparation arrangements,

  • administration of these tasks,

  • plans regarding retail distribution and retail-distribution territories,

  • royalty payment arrangements,

  • bulk copy purchases (Is a minimum number of print copies [which may be bookshop returns] to be underwritten by the author(s), editor(s), School or Faculty?),

  • Marketing plans for the publication will also be discussed, along with the book’s planned format, editorial style and projected publication schedule.

At this point the Managing Editor may give to the author(s) or editor(s) a provisional acceptance of their proposed publication, subject to its successful progressing through processes of peer review.

Note: Monash University Publishing is able to source and administer professional copy-editing, proof-reading, indexing and electronic file preparation but may pass on the fees of these service providers. In these cases Monash University Publishing will obtain approval for costings acquired and, after publication, request an Internal Debit Note (IDN) payment from the author(s), editor(s), School or Faculty, as agreed.

3.6 The author(s) or editor(s) will submit the complete manuscript to the Managing Editor.

3.7 The Managing Editor will have the manuscript refereed by at least two experts in the relevant field, at least one of whom will be from outside of Monash.

3.8 The Managing Editor will send a completed Proposal Evaluation Form to the Monash University Publishing Manager.

3.9 The Manager will inform the author(s) or editor(s) of the outcome of the evaluation process: whether their work will be published or not.

3.10 If the Managing Editor has recommended publication of the work, the Manager will seek approval of this recommendation from the Monash University Publishing Advisory Committee.

3.11 Once approval to publish has been received from the Monash University Publishing Advisory Committee, the Manager will inform the Managing Editor and supply the Managing Editor with a contract, which includes a publication schedule, that is to be signed by the author(s) or editor(s) and, where applicable, any other party with a material interest in the publication (such as a representative from a School), and returned to the Manager, along with the complete book manuscript that (unless previously arranged that Monash University Publishing will administer these tasks) will have been professionally edited and proofread in accordance with the Monash University Publishing Editorial Style Guide and formatted and styled in accordance with the Monash University Publishing Guidelines for Electronic Submission.

The Managing Editor should continue to be available to discuss any issues that may arise during or after the production process.

4. The work

4.1 Content

In order to expedite the production process and minimise errors, Monash University Publishing requires from the Editorial Board the complete work at the start of this process. This includes: i) front-matter, ii) body-text, iii) end-matter and iv) images.

i. Front-matter

Where applicable, the complete text of the following should be supplied (in both electronic and hard copy):

  • final title of the work

  • foreword

  • dedication

  • preface

  • acknowledgements

  • list of contributors

  • list of abbreviations and acronyms

  • list(s) of maps, illustrations, tables, etc

  • contents list.

The files for these sections – as for those throughout the work – should all be appropriately named and include the key initials of the publication title followed by the relevant section of the work, using the hyphen symbol (-) to separate the first two elements of the file name. For example, if a book is entitled Australians in Italy, the title would be 'ai', and the front matter would be named along these lines:

ai-foreword.rtf
ai-preface.rtf
ai-acknowledgements.rtf
ai-introduction.rtf

ii. Body text

All text must be supplied in electronic and hard copy (as stipulated in the Guidelines for Electronic Submission).
The chapters should be supplied consecutively, and be appropriately named. For example:

ai-chapter01.rft
ai-chapter02.rtf
ai-chapter03.rtf
ai-chapter04.rtf


iii. End matter
The end matter should be supplied in electronic and hard copy (as stipulated in the Guidelines for Electronic Submission).
These could include some or all of the following, and should all be appropriately named. For example:

ai-appendix.doc
ai-glossary.doc
ai-references.doc
ai-photocredits.doc
ai-index.doc

iv. Images
If there are any images to support the text it is important to do the following:

  • All images should be supplied at the same time as the text.

  • All images should be supplied electronically as JPG, TIFF or EPS files.

  • Images should be high resolution and at least 300dpi at print size.

  • All captions to images should be supplied.

  • An indication of where the image is to be placed should be supplied.

Photographic images should not be embedded in the text. Instead, the position within the text should be indicated by means of an in-text caption insert at the point where the images should be placed. Monash University Publishing will endeavour to place the image as close as possible to that reference; however, because of the limitations of the media, the images might not always appear in exactly the same place in the online document as they do in the print book.

The Editorial Board should ensure that the captions are a true representation of the image and that the caption style is consistent throughout the work (ie names, protocol, punctuation etc, should be the same at the end of the book as they are at the beginning, or within the various chapters if there is more than one contributor).

All images (and their respective captions) should be numbered from one through to the final number of images within the chapter, and be appropriately named. For example:

ai-chapter01-fig01.tif
ai-chapter01-fig02.tif
ai-chapter02-fig01.tif
ai-chapter02-fig02.tif

The manuscript should include the image file names at the place where the images should be located, above the figure captioning.

It is important that the author obtains all copyright clearance. These permission letters should be supplied to Monash University Publishing. It is also necessary to indicate and acknowledge all image sources with a photo credit. These can be included as part of the image caption, or alternately they can be listed separately at the end of the work as one of the appendices.

4.2 Style (editorial)

Monash University Publishing has its own Editorial Style Guide, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style. Authors, editors, Managing Editors and copyeditors will be supplied with this style guide as required.
Authors should guard against an unacceptable level of late corrections (over 10 per cent is unacceptable). These will be charged to the author at the commercial rates they are charged to Monash University Publishing.

4.3 Styling (electronic)

Monash University Publishing works with styled Word documents. The Manuscript Submission Template should be referred to for instructions on styling the text. This template provides clear directives in terms of usage (headings, emphases, graphics etc).

Monash University Publishing generates all formats (ie print-ready PDF, html and eBook reader files) from one source document; therefore it is important that the original Word document is as free from errors as possible, ensuring that all derivatives are in turn error free.

4.4 Format

Monash University Publishing requires the work to be submitted in styled Word documents.

5. Proofs

Please refer to the Guidelines for Electronic Submission, which outline the publishing process at Monash University Publishing.

At the start of this process, the author will receive a schedule from Monash University Publishing. It is imperative that the dates provided are kept to, as this will ensure the publishing timetable remains in place. This is especially important if the publication is required for a particular date or function.

The page proofs, which are received during this process, will be for a final check only, to ensure that:

  • All the preliminary pages are in place and in the correct sequence, with all the correct credits acknowledged.

  • All the chapters are correctly numbered and in the correct sequence.

  • All the subheadings within the chapters are consistently styled and formatted.

  • All the images are in the correct place, with their accompanying captions: this includes photographs, tables and graphs.

  • Any small spelling errors are found and corrected.

  • All the appendices are in place and in their correct sequence.

The page proofs are not intended for any late, large additions of text or other content, nor should they be seen as providing an author with the opportunity to rewrite large sections of text. They should only give an author and editor the chance to review the whole work, with all the text and support elements in place. The final, small changes should be kept to a minimum. If the number of corrections is excessive, the author will be charged with costs incurred.

Once the first set of proofs has been checked, returned to Monash University Publishing and corrected, the author will receive one more set of proofs. This will be the final opportunity for the author to make any small adjustments before the work is prepared to be published.

6. Cover (design and proofs)

Monash University Publishing encourages and welcomes suggestions for the cover illustration and design. However, Monash University Publishing reserves the right to make the final decision on cover design.

If the author wishes to recommend an artwork or photograph for the cover, he or she should obtain copyright clearance for this image as well as the permission from the artist or the artist’s estate to do so. Any costs for the use of this image are to be borne by the author.

Monash University Publishing and the author will discuss and negotiate any design changes, but once this is done, Monash University Publishing will have the final decision and no further design proposals will be made or accepted.

7. Print-on-Demand (PoD) books

Monash University Publishing will make its titles available for sale via PoD. These books are produced using a digital print method that enables the ordering of books in very small quantities (as few as one copy at a time), which can be delivered directly to customers in Australia and overseas. Selected titles are sold into bookstores.

8. Promotion of the work

The author(s), editor(s) and Editorial Board acknowledge that in order to promote the work it may be necessary for Monash University Publishing to use the material in a context that includes advertising and marketing.
Monash University Publishing reserves the right to make special arrangements with appropriate learned or professional bodies in order to increase the exposure of the work and such arrangements may include providing access to the electronic forms of the work.

All requests to re-use the work in whole or in part in another publication should be discussed with Monash University Publishing and, if agreed, the correct acknowledgement is required.

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