Author FAQ
What's in it for me?
- Fast publication, typically 8-10 weeks from acceptance of final, peer-reviewed version
- A citable, peer-reviewed article, with a permanent URL
- A wide, international audience through a global medium
- Free individual access to the site for 1 year
- Link to your university profile page or personal website
- Usage information of your article upon request.
In addition, you will receive free Wiley-Blackwell books of your choice to the value of £30/$50, if your manuscript is submitted by the agreed deadline.
How will people get to hear about my article?
At Compass, we recognise that authors place an understandably high importance on getting exposure for their articles as they seek to disseminate their research, build up their profile and advance in their careers. Because of the broad scope of Compass, many more people will see your article than in a specialist research journal. Your article will be seen worldwide, by peers, researchers, teachers, and students both within your field and outside it. In addition, we have developed the following set of initiatives to ensure the widest possible dissemination:
- All Compass abstracts are free, which means that search engines index them, so your article may be included in topic searches in Google, Yahoo, AOL, etc. (see the 'Optimizing your Abstract for Search Engines' document for what you can do to help with this).
- Compass articles will be included in the main abstracting and indexing services for the field.
- Your article will be included in electronic tables of contents sent to the thousands of registered users of Interscience, Wiley-Blackwell’s online journals system.
- Your article will be included in content alerts sent to registered users. For example, if a user creates a content alert about ‘deforestation’ or ‘Shakespeare and film’, and your article matches the topic, then it will be included.
- For selected, newsworthy articles, we will send press releases to the media.
- We feature a changing selection of articles on the main Compass home page, and on each Section home page within Compass, which drives up usage of those articles.
- Compass articles are registered with Crossref which means that they have a permanent url which facilitates linking to your article and citing it.
Can I include my own research, or do I just have to survey the literature?
Authors are encouraged to include insights from their own work, in addition to providing an overview of current thinking on the topic. But Compass does not publish pure primary research. Please see the Notes for Authors for more information.
What is the audience for Compass?
Potential readers include your peers, scholars in related areas, teachers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates - potentially from any part of the discipline. For this reason, it is important to avoid specialist jargon as most readers will not be experts in the topic. The style should be crisp and concise, and livelier than a research article. Unlike traditional reviews, authors are encouraged to take a position, which must be well-argued and supported.
How will people find my article?
- Compass is crawled regularly by Google
- All articles are registered with Crossref for citation linking.
How will people cite my article?
Users can download the citation in different formats. The citation also appears on the PDF version in the header at the top of the first page.
Who will be able to access my article?
Everyone will be able to see the abstract. Users in subscribing libraries will be able to access the full text of the article.
Can I track the usage of my article?
Yes. An abstract view counter will appear on the site next to your abstract. In addition, we can send you reports of how many times the full text of the article has been viewed.
How does the peer reviewing work?
The Section Editor will choose one or two scholars to comment on the piece, in addition to their personal reading of the piece. In order to facilitate the peer review process, we use an online submission/editorial interface software; Manuscript Central. Refer to the Notes for Authors for simple instructions about how to submit the different elements of your submission online (see section on ''Submitting the Article'). Once the revisions have been made to the Editor's satisfaction, your piece will go into production.
What about copyright?
We do not require that you assign the copyright to Wiley-Blackwell. Instead, we ask you to agree to license the article exclusively to us for a period of 12 months, after which you are free to post it in institutional repositories and other academic collections.
How long before my article is published?
This depends partly on you. Unlike conventional journals, we are not bound by the traditional issue format and articles are published continuously, as soon as they are ready. IF your manuscript is complete on submission (including an abstract, properly formatted bibliography and one-paragraph short biography) and IF you return your signed Exclusive Licence Form promptly and IF you return your proofs promptly, we can typically publish the paper in 6-8 weeks from acceptance of the final, peer-reviewed version. However, incomplete manuscripts cannot be processed and will incur delays. Likewise, the faster that you return your proofs, the sooner the article will be published.