Refine refereeing guidelines (still not publicly linked)

submissions/templates/submissions/refereeing_guidelines.html

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 <h2 class="highlight-x">A guide for referees and authors</h2>
 <p>
   The following is a general guide to refereeing at SciPost.
-  Slightly informal in style, it is meant to introduce you to how peer review works at SciPost.
+  Slightly informal in style, it is meant to introduce you to how our peer review system works.
   It does not replace
   our Journals' <a href="{% url 'journals:journals_terms_and_conditions' %}">Terms and Conditions</a>
   (which extend the general <a href="{% url 'scipost:terms_and_conditions' %}">SciPost Terms and Conditions</a>), which remain in force as official rules.
@@ -41,21 +41,18 @@
   <div class="col-6">
 
     <h3>Have you been invited to write a Report?</h3>
+    <p>Here are some basic things we trust you will do:</p>
     <ul>
       <li>
 	<h4>Please promptly accept or decline the invitation</h4>
 	<p>
 	  To make your life as easy as possible, the email invitation
 	  you will have received contains simple one-click
-	  actions to accept/decline the task. As a simple but effective
-	  mark of respect to our authors, Fellows and editorial team,
-	  and to help us minimize delays in processing submissions,
+	  actions to accept/decline the task. As a basic but effective
+	  mark of respect to our authors, Fellows and editorial team
+	  (and to help us minimize delays in processing submissions),
 	  please respond promptly to any invitation you receive.
 	</p>
-	<p>
-	  Should you wish to be permanently removed from our list of referees,
-	  please email our <a href="mailto:edadmin@scipost.org">editorial administration</a>.
-	</p>
       </li>
       <li>
 	<h4>Comply with our conflict-of-interest rules</h4>
@@ -68,18 +65,17 @@
 	    <li>a personal relationship with one (or more!) of the authors</li>
 	    <li>a hierarchical connection with one or more of the authors</li>
 	    <li>doubts or feel conflicted due to a close link between the work
-	      refereed and your own work</li>
+	      refereed and your own work.</li>
 	  </ul>
 	</p>
 	<p>
 	  <strong>Note</strong>: in some fields, it is customary for extremely large numbers of
-	  authors to publish jointly. In such cases, the co-authorship disqualifier is relaxed,
-	  and conflict of interest is assessed primarily on the basis of active collaboration.
+	  authors to publish jointly. In such cases, the co-authorship disqualifier can be relaxed,
+	  and conflict of interest be assessed primarily on the basis of active collaboration.
 	</p>
 	<p>
-	  If you feel that a conflict of interest exists, you should email our
+	  If you feel that a conflict of interest exists, or if you have doubts, you should email our
 	  <a href="mailto:edadmin@scipost.org">editorial administration</a>, explaining the matter.
-	  They will be able to assess whether such a conflict exists.
 	</p>
       </li>
       <li>
@@ -89,6 +85,11 @@
 	  period. It is preferable to deliver a shorter report within the expected time
 	  than no report at all.
 	</p>
+	<p>
+	  You can start writing your Report at any time and,
+	  if other duties suddenly require your attention,
+	  conveniently save it as a draft for later completion.
+	</p>
 	<p>
 	  If you had accepted to send a Report, but subsequently decide not to proceed,
 	  please send a communication to the Submission's Editor-in-charge
@@ -98,7 +99,11 @@
     </ul>
 
     <h3>What do we ask you in our Report form?</h3>
-    <p>When filling in a Report form, you will be asked for:</p>
+    <p>
+      Our Report form is quite intuitive and straightforward, and can be easily filled
+      if you have already read and thought about the paper.
+    </p>
+    <p>To be clear, when filling in a Report form, you will be asked for:</p>
     <ul>
       <li>your assessment of your qualification for refereeing this submission (form: choice field, from expert to ... not qualified!)</li>
       <li>your evaluation of the strengths of the submission (form: text area)</li>
@@ -118,8 +123,9 @@
 	</ul>
       </li>
       <p>
-	You can make use of TeX mathematical formulas in the text areas, thanks to MathJax.
-	Note that only basic elements are available (see
+	You can make use of $\LaTeX$ mathematical formulas in the text areas, thanks to MathJax.
+	Note that only basic elements are available
+	(\$...\$ for inline equations, \ [ ... \ ] for on-line equations).
       </p>
     </ul>
 
@@ -197,13 +203,17 @@
 	  If you are a Registered Contributor at SciPost, you can contribute a Report on
 	  any Submission currently undergoing refereeing.
 	</p>
+	<p>
+	  Should you wish to be permanently removed from our list of referees,
+	  please email our <a href="mailto:edadmin@scipost.org">editorial administration</a>.
+	</p>
       </li>
       <li>
 	<h4>Why should I do it?</h4>
 	<p>
-	  To put it brutally: because it's your job. A more polite way of saying it is:
-	  because it's your duty as a scientist. As an author, you benefit from others'
-	  work as referees, so it is collegial of you to return the favour.
+	  Simply because it's an essential aspect of your academic job,
+	  and because it's ultimately your duty as a scientist. As an author, you benefit from others'
+	  work as referees; academic collegiality should thus incite you to return the favour.
 	</p>
 	<p>
 	  That said, there is a substantial benefit to perfoming refereeing work at SciPost.
@@ -251,6 +261,20 @@
 	  (but don't worry, nobody is clocking you).
 	</p>
       </li>
+      <li>
+	<h4>What happens if I'm late?</h4>
+	<p>
+	  We will unleash a plague of locusts onto your household.
+	  No seriously: we understand how busy the life of an academic can be, and how
+	  difficult it can be to schedule everything and meet all deadlines.
+	  Simply note that the Editor-in-charge of a Submission can proceed
+	  with formulating a recommendation
+	  once the refereeing deadline has passed. If your invited Report is delivered late, it will
+	  still be accepted and published, but might not weigh in on the publication decision
+	  by the College (depending on the circumstances), and might thus miss its chance of
+	  providing the authors with useful input.
+	</p>
+      </li>
     </ul>
   </div>