HOME

News

Migration to TAP Manuscript Central v4 - Monday September 29, 2008, updated October 8, 2008

Update:

The Transactions successfully migrated to the new version of the manuscript administration software and we re-commenced receiving manuscripts on October 4.

The link to the new version is http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tap-ieee.

The migration from v1.8 to v4 was a little rocky and there are still a number of matters to deal with. For instance, some of the standard email letters have incorrect details. One of the biggest problems was that some people were unable to login.

You should be able to login using your existing User ID and Password. If you have forgotten your password, enter your User ID and email address as indicated on the front page of the new site.

Original item:

As foreshadowed at the reviewers meeting in San Diego held in July 2008, the IEEE Transactions on Antennas & Propagation manuscript management system, Manuscript Central (MC), is to be upgraded from v1.8 to v4.1. The migration date will occur late in September. The purpose here is to inform you of the transition process and to invite authors, reviewers and editors to trial the test web site.

Manuscript Central v4.1 is a big change from v1.8, in look and feel and also what it can do. Those familiar with the AWPL MC system will find the migration no problem as they are the same versions of the software – just a little different look and feel. Some of the changes are superficial while others are more substantial. Some of the main changes are:

• New Look & Feel for Header Area
• Log In Page Improvements
• Main Menu Page Improvements
• New "Tools" area on Dashboard
• Simplified Manuscript Lists
• Asterisks used as wild cards in searches.
• E-Mail Pop-Up Windows (you will need to allow pop-ups for this site)
• Editing Instructions
• Reorganization of the Advanced Manuscript Search - Ref # Changes to the Manuscript Details Area
• Manuscript Details Header and Tabs
• Simplified Audit Trail - Ref # Changes to the Editor Tasks
• Reviewer Assignment: Easier Manuscript Tracking
• Reviewer Assignment: Improved Reviewer Searching
• Reviewer Assignment: Reviewer Search Results

You can trial the new version for yourself by logging onto the TAP v4.1 test site. The address of the test web site is
http://stage.manuscriptcentral.com/tap-ieee  .

Login using your existing username and password.

There are a couple of points to note.

1. As with the old version of MC, use the buttons on Manuscript Central and not the forward/reverse function of your browser.
2. This is a trial site and sometimes runs very slowly. Therefore, please be patient. Note that this won't be a limitation of the 'live' web site.
3. A number of papers have been transferred from the v1.8 site for you to work with and test various functions. I suggest that you also try submitting/reviewing a few test manuscripts.
4. Anything you do on the trial site will not affect the current MC site (on v1.8) which will remain the means of managing manuscripts until we convert fully to v4.1.
5. There are some minor items that will be addressed by Thomson after migration.  Please let me know if you notice any potential problems or errors.

Migration Steps
The main steps of the migration to v4.1 are as follows:

1. EIC and Editorial Assistant to be briefed on the new system by MC administrator (mid-August).
2. EIC to send material on v4.1 to AE's. AE's to trial v4.1 on the test web site (mid-August).
3. EIC to place information on the Transactions web site (first week September).
4. Editorial Assistant to send notice to all people in the database about the conversion to v4.1 (first week September).
5. All convert to MC v4.1 (Monday September 29).

I encourage you to trial the new version of Manuscript Central and become familiar with its operation. If you have any urgent problems with v4.1, please contact the Editorial Assistant at tap.editor@ieee.org.

Trevor Bird
Editor-in-Chief
IEEE Transactions on Antennas & Propagation

Contact:

tap.editor@ieee.org