Hi everyone, I'm delighted to say that we have just published NISO RP-30-2020, Manuscript Exchange Common Approach (MECA) Recommended Practice - an open protocol for the transfer of manuscripts within and between manuscript systems. As well as developing a common vocabulary, the MECA Working Group has also made specific recommendations for transmitting, identifying, and packaging the content being transferred.
Many thanks to everyone who provided feedback on the draft recommendations, as well as to the Working Group members, especially co-chairs @Anthony Alves and @Stephen Laverick. An astonishing estimated 15 million hours are currently wasted each year repeating reviews for articles that have been rejected - not to mention the additional time spent re-submitting those articles - so we hope our Recommended Practice will improve this frustrating and time-consuming experience for authors, reviewers, and publishers alike. It covers the transfer of manuscripts and/or reviews between submission systems, between preprint and submission systems, from authoring systems to submission systems, and from submission systems to services such as post acceptance processing systems.
Any questions, please do let me know! Thanks, Alice
------------------------------
Alice Meadows
Director of Community Engagement
National Information Standards Organization
------------------------------