Submitting an article for publication is a crucial step in the process. You’ve put in a lot of careful thought and effort in the research and writing of the manuscript, and the reviewing side has done the same. So once an article has been accepted for publication, little or no changes are expected. But what happens when you suddenly realize that something indeed must change in your paper before it is finally published and set in stone?
Let’s quickly review the process of publishing an article. After your manuscript submission, the journal deems your work suitable for review and an Editor is assigned, then after an initial review of your work, external reviewers are invited to peer review and carefully check the quality of your work. After some changes (whether minor or major), it is finally accepted and you may be asked to do a final scan of your manuscript or it is sent to the production department where a final round of proofreading or subediting is completed before it is converted to its final ready-for-publication version. You will also receive an e-proof for your approval before it is signed off.
Whether you receive an email regarding the contribution of the authors, are going through the final version for the thousandth time or, if like me, your brain suddenly wakes up at 4-5 am thinking “wait, section 2.3 is missing a detail” you may identify critical changes in your paper. At this point, drafting that email to the Editor in charge can be daunting. Not only because it may delay the publication of your work, but because changes to an accepted manuscript, which has gone through multiple layers of scrutiny, are highly discouraged by journals and may raise a few eyebrows.
There are two stages where you could make changes to your work. Before submission (when you are carefully making sure that it is all accurate) and after the manuscript has been returned for revisions. Please accept that after the Editor has made a final decision to accept your manuscript, no further changes to the content can be made, meaning that the data has been approved cannot be altered, only touch-up details. But all is not lost – there are still some instances where you can make some changes, if justified, to your manuscript after acceptance.
Authorship. Changes to authorship are considered informal or non-professional. In some instances, some authors feel that the contribution of one author does not grant listing as an author but under the contributions section. In such cases, the main author should confirm with all the authors not only if they feel that they have significantly contributed to the work but that they deserve equal recognition. In such cases, a consent for changes will be necessary from each author.
Corresponding Author. A corresponding author may be changed, but you will always have to register a replacement. This is a straightforward process and the journal may just enquire if there are any further actions required.
Typeset corrections. Once you have scanned your edited and accepted manuscript, corrections are not possible. These errors are not common as all articles are sent for proofreading before publishing. However, critical errors can be handled by the journal if a request is made with specific details. These types of requests are usually made directly to the production or marketing team, and not to the Editor who handled the peer-reviewing process.
Graphical items. In some cases, you may be able to edit your graphical Abstract or some diagrams if it contributes to the clarity of the available display item. Be sure to justify the changes required and make sure they are submitted well in time.
It goes without saying that it is your responsibility as an author to ensure that the version uploaded after acceptance is the final version of your manuscript. No changes to data will be accepted as they may require further peer reviewing. However, post-acceptance changes are not uncommon and if it can improve the quality of your manuscript, then why not!
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