Behind the Scenes of the YSW Editorial Process

After the YSW authors revise their manuscripts with their Faculty Advisory Editors (FAEs), their manuscripts undergo an editing process by the editorial team who check for citations and formatting, and conduct thorough line editing. This editing phase is yet another step in the long, yet important, process of preparing the manuscripts for publication. 

In preparation for Volume 19 of YSW, this phase was taken on by the editorial team which consisted of editors Dr. Emily Murphy Cope, Dr. Gabriel Cutrufello, and Dr. Kim Fahle Peck, and editorial interns Kameron Cherry and Jalil Dixon. For Kameron and Jalil, this was their first experience being tasked with such a large share of the editing process for an international publication. They were tasked with editing 9 articles; Kameron was in charge of the first citation check, which was later followed upon and checked by Dr. Peck, and Jalil was in charge of the first formatting check, which was later followed upon and checked by Dr. Cutrufello. Dr. Cope then completed a final line edit of the entire manuscript. For the editorial team, this was roughly a 3-week process that included several stages of back-and-forth.

The citation checking process consists of checking if the works cited entries and in-text citations match and are formatted correctly following the current MLA guidelines. The format checking process includes making sure the manuscript is formatted following the guidelines for MLA throughout, for example ensuring page numbers are formatted properly, the title is centered, and headings are consistent throughout. We also check the image quality of any figures that will appear in the text to ensure they are not pixelated when printed. The line editing process includes checking on a line-to-line basis for grammatical errors that may have slipped through and adjusting sentence structure to ensure clarity.

Kameron describes his experience with editing for Volume 19 of the journal as “eye-opening.” He says this of his experience:

The editing process for YSW is very meticulous when it comes to structure and citation. The YSW editorial team works on different jobs when it comes to checking the manuscripts.   I did the citation check for most of the journals, and it was a very rinse and repeat process. I made sure to check every source for accessibility and had to learn some new things about MLA citation. I can honestly say that the editorial process is a very long process, but thankfully we bounce knowledge off each other and we help each other out through the process as a team.

Jalil would describe the process first-and-foremost as “challenging but ultimately, a fulfilling experience.” He says this of his time working on the manuscripts:

It was certainly an interesting experience and though it wasn’t easy, it was good work that I’m glad I was able to be a part of. The formatting checking process for me was a multi-week process that began towards the midpoint of October and for the most part, concluded in early November. One of the biggest challenges for me was learning the exact formatting that needed to be done throughout, of course, but mainly being able to balance this increase of work alongside classes that are also picking up. It was a time commitment for sure that required me to stay focused throughout and keep a keen eye on anything format-related. For all 9 articles that we were responsible for, I had to make sure that the title and headings followed MLA guidelines to ensure that everything was consistent throughout the journal. I did those things while also keeping a check on footnotes, block quotes, and ensuring that the figures and tables would be inserted correctly. It sounds like a lot, which it certainly was, but I wasn’t alone as I always had the assistance of the editors to whom I could ask the trickier questions.

Once the editorial team finishes reviewing the manuscripts for these final technical details, drafts will be sent to authors for final approval. With that final check, the manuscripts will be sent to the publisher for final layout and publication. Volume 19 will be published and available in early 2022.