Editor of the Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society (TAOS)
The Editor of the Transactions is an annual appointment with an anticipated 5 years of service. The duties of the TAOS Editor are intense during the months of May through November each year. The position requires good writing, editing, and organizational skills with attention to detail. Basic skills are needed in understanding digital figure and table formatting. A knowledgeable office staff is imperative. Frequent communications with the authors, the copyeditor, the webmaster, and the Executive Vice President must be maintained.
The TAOS Editor responsibilities include:
Producing the TAOS publication and acting ex Officio as a member of the Council.
Serving as the Chair of the Committee on Publications along with the Executive Vice President, ex officio and an optional third member appointed each year by the
Council. The Committee decides which theses will appear in the Transactions and has the power to require authors of a thesis to edit their manuscripts.
Updating the online Instructions for Authors by October of each year in preparation for thesis submissions the following year.
Ensuring that the business meeting, and all social events at the AOS meeting are captured by audio technicians at the meeting. The Editor ensures that they are accurately recorded and retains the copies (usually duplicate) at the end of the meeting.
Reviewing each thesis for editorial deficiencies at the same time the Committee on
Theses is reviewing the manuscript for content. Consolidated comments are sent to the thesis candidates; the editor receives the revised thesis back for that year and determines if the authors have responded adequately to the revision suggestions. Consultation with the Executive Vice President may be needed.
Sending theses in digital format (usually CD because of their size) to the copyeditor once the theses have all their essential elements.
Providing copyeditor with the email address of all corresponding authors and working with the authors to ensure accurate copyediting. The copyeditor corresponds with the editor frequently, with the editor being responsible for monitoring and ensuring progression towards completion. The copyeditor reports to the Editor and AOS Council about irregular activities and excessive time required by some authors. The AOS Council reserves the right to charge authors if copyediting resources / costs become excessive because of poorly prepared manuscripts.
Preparing and editing the remainder of the proceedings (obituaries, business meeting, social events, awards, paper and poster abstracts). The copyeditor deals only with the theses.
Transcribing all social events, and the business meeting that were captured on the audio into digital format.
Editing obituaries as they are received. Obituaries are assigned by the current AOS
President. There are guidelines for obituaries and they must be submitted in a timely fashion. The author of the obituary should also obtain a photograph if the AOS does not already have one on file.
Ensuring that the reports of various AOS committees and outside organizations have been properly submitted.
Forwarding the final copyedited version of each section of the Transactions as they are approved to the AOS webmaster, who prepares the digital content for PubMed, PubMed Central, and the AOS web site. The authors must approve the galley proof that the webmaster has created. There is frequent communication between the
Editor and webmaster during this process and the galley must be carefully inspected, especially for any formatting errors.
Continually reminding authors to cooperate with deadlines, as they are frequently delinquent in their responsibilities, in order for the Transactions to be published in December of each year (as required by the bylaws). It is the Editor’s responsibility to communicate with the copyeditor and webmaster to identify any delinquent authors. The authors risk withdrawal of the manuscript from publication if they are not timely.
Revised 06.05.12