Gatha Cognition

The steps, from acceptance to Online First

1. EditorAcceptedYou get the decision by email and in Manuscript(s) with Decision. You may now choose Open Access Plus.
2. Editorial officeCopy editing & compositionEnglish, house style, layout in the journal or book design. Questions for you are added to the PDF as queries.
3. Editorial officeProof sentThe proof (PDF) is put in Article(s) Proofs and you get the email “Proofs uploaded”.
4. You · 48 hCheck & markMark every correction as a PDF comment and reply to every query. Save under a new name.
5. YouUpload correctionsSubmit Corrected Proof. New or better figures go by email as attachments.
6. YouCopyright formFill in, sign, scan and upload it with Submit Copyrights.
7. Editorial officeCorrected copyWe make your corrections and, where needed, put the corrected copy in your account to check again.
8. YouApproveWhen the copy is right, click Approve Article Proof. It is then published Online First with a Crossref DOI.

Only the corresponding author works on the proof in the portal. Co-authors send their corrections to the corresponding author, who puts all of them in one corrected file.

• Sign in to the Manuscript Portal as author and open Article(s) Proofs. Your article or chapter is listed with its Manuscript ID.
• Click Active Proof to download the PDF. Open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader (free, Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone) or another PDF reader that has comment tools.
• The proof is the final layout. Check it for errors only — this is not the time to rewrite, add new results, references or authors. Large changes need the editor’s approval and delay publication.
• Please reply within 48 hours. If you cannot, write to office@gathacognition.com at once.

Corrections are accepted only as comments on the proof PDF. A Word file, a list of corrections, an edited manuscript or a scanned hand-marked copy cannot be accepted: the manuscript then goes back to the first step of processing (copy editing and composition), and publication is delayed.

Do not edit the text of the PDF itself, and do not send a new Word file. Mark each correction as a comment on the PDF, so we can see exactly where it is. In Acrobat Reader, open Comment (or All tools › Add a comment):

To …	Use	How
Change a word or phrase	Highlight + comment	Select the text, choose Highlight, then type in its comment box exactly what it should be: Replace with: “evapotranspiration”.
Delete text	Strikethrough	Select the text and choose Strikethrough (or Delete). Add a comment if it is not obvious.
Add text	Insert text	Click where the text goes, choose Insert text (caret) and type the new words.
Point out a larger problem	Sticky note	Click Add sticky note beside the place and explain: a wrong figure, a table to be re-set, a paragraph out of order, a figure sent by email.
Draw attention to an area	Rectangle (box)	Draw a box around a figure, equation or table and describe the change in its comment.

• Our questions are in the PDF as comments or sticky notes, numbered AQ1, AQ2 … (Author Query) — for example a citation missing from the reference list, an unclear sentence, or a figure of low quality.
• Reply to all of them: open each comment and click Reply. If nothing has to change, reply “OK as set” or “No change”.
• Do not delete our comments, and do not mark them as resolved without replying. An unanswered query holds back the whole article.
• Please also answer any comment in the proof email or from the editor in your account.

Read the whole proof carefully, from the title to the last reference. Please check in particular:

Title and first page

• Title: every word, capitals, symbols and italics.
• Every author’s name spelt correctly, in the right order; the corresponding author marked.
• Affiliations, addresses and emails — complete and correct. (No authors can be added, removed or re-ordered after acceptance.)
• Abstract, keywords and highlights are the accepted ones; the graphical abstract is the right picture.

Sections and text

• All sections are there and in order: Introduction to Conclusions, Acknowledgements, Conflicts of interest, References.
• Headings and their numbers (1, 1.1, 1.1.1) are right; no paragraph, line or word is missing between pages.
• Equations, symbols, units, superscripts and subscripts, Greek letters and special characters are right.
• Words in other languages keep their accents and diacritics; nothing changed your meaning during copy editing.

Tables and figures

• Every table: values, units, decimals, column headings, notes and caption.
• Every figure: the right image, sharp and readable, in the right place, with its caption; maps with north arrow and scale bar.
• Tables and figures numbered in order, and each one cited in the text (Table 1, Figure 1).

Citations and references

• Every citation in the text is in the reference list, and every reference is cited in the text.
• Names and years in citations match the reference list exactly (Bhagat, 2002 ≠ Bhagat, 2003).
• Each reference is complete: authors, year, title, journal or book, volume(issue), pages, and the DOI when there is one.
• The list is in alphabetical order; DOIs and web links open the right page.

End matter

• Acknowledgements, funding agencies and grant numbers.
• Conflict-of-interest, data-availability and AI-use statements, where you gave them.

The reference style is explained in the Author Guide, section 5 (author–year).

• Use File › Save As (not Save), so the original proof stays as it was.
• Name the file with your Manuscript ID: GCJ1M837_Corrected_Proof.pdf. For a second round: GCJ1M837_Corrected_Proof_2.pdf.
• Close the file and open it again to be sure that all your comments are saved in it.
• Keep it as a PDF: do not print it, convert it to Word or export the comments to another file.

1. In Article(s) Proofs, click Submit Corrected Proof in the row of your manuscript.
2. Choose your corrected proof (PDF only, with your comments in it) and click Upload.
3. The editorial office gets an email at once. Your file then appears as Corrected Proof in the same row.

You can upload a corrected proof again until you approve the proof — for example after we send you the corrected copy.

The portal takes the corrected proof as one PDF, not Word file or images. If a figure has to be replaced or improved:

• Email the new image files as attachments to office@gathacognition.com, with the Manuscript ID in the subject: GCJ1M837 – corrected figures.
• Name each file by its number: GCJ1M837_Figure_3.jpg. TIFF, JPG or PNG, at least 300 dpi for photographs and maps, 600 dpi for line art.
• Add a sticky note on that figure in the proof: “Replace Figure 3 — new file sent by email on 18 Oct 2026”.
• Files larger than about 20 MB: send a download link (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox) in the email instead.

• Standard publication: the copyright form (copyright letter, terms and schedules) transfers the copyright of the article or chapter to Gatha Cognition. Open Access Plus: you keep the copyright, and the form records the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. See the Author Guide, section 11.
• Download the copyright form — it is also sent to you with your proof.
• Fill in every field: title, Manuscript ID, name of the journal or book, and all authors in the order of the article. The corresponding author signs on behalf of all authors (an authorized signatory adds the letter of authority).
• Scan all pages into one PDF named GCJ1M837_Copyright.pdf.
• In Article(s) Proofs, click Submit Copyrights, choose the file and click Upload. The editorial office is told by email and you get an acknowledgement. A wrong file can be replaced with Resubmit Copyrights until you approve the proof.

• We make your corrections. When there are many, or a query needed your decision, the corrected copy is put in your account as a new Active Proof and you are told by email — check only that your corrections are done.
• When the copy is right and the copyright form is uploaded, click Approve Article Proof. The editorial office is told by email.
• Approval is final. After it you cannot upload corrections, and the article or chapter is published Online First with its Crossref DOI and CrossMark; a journal article is later placed in a volume and issue.
• An error found after publication can only be corrected by a published correction notice — see the CrossMark Policy.

Emails at each step

Email	When	Sent to
Proofs uploaded	The editorial office puts the proof or the corrected copy in your account.	Corresponding author
Proofs received	You click Submit Corrected Proof.	Editorial office
Copyrights received / Copyright form received	You click Submit Copyrights.	Editorial office / you
Proof approved	You click Approve Article Proof.	Editorial office
Your message	(Editor1 Email) link in Article(s) Proofs, for a question about the proof.	The editor
Corrected figures	You send new image files (section 7).	office@gathacognition.com

The portal’s emails are sent automatically — please do not reply to them. Write to office@gathacognition.com and always put the Manuscript ID in the subject.

Checklist before you upload

• Every correction is a comment on the proof PDF (highlight, strikethrough, insert text or sticky note), one correction per comment — no Word file or separate list.
• Every query (AQ1, AQ2 …) has a reply, even “OK as set”.
• Title, authors, affiliations, abstract, keywords, highlights, all sections, tables, figures and equations checked.
• Every citation is in the reference list and every reference is cited; names and years match.
• All co-authors’ corrections are in this one file.
• Saved with Save As under a new name with the Manuscript ID, and re-opened to check the comments are there.
• New figures emailed as attachments with the Manuscript ID in the subject.
• Copyright form complete, signed and uploaded.
• Approve Article Proof only when the copy is fully correct.

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