Aries Systems Corporation is pleased to announce the next phase of LiXuid Manuscript™, an XML workflow solution focused on streamlining the publication production process. LiXuid Manuscript transforms unstructured representations of journal content–such as Word documents–into structured, industry-compliant XML.
LiXuid Manuscript introduces a built-in XML editing tool to be used in conjunction with existing Aries platforms ProduXion Manager®, the production tracking system, and Task Manager, the editorial task workflow solution. The editing tool allows Authors and Editors to modify their content directly rather than relying on a back-and-forth process between publishers, Authors and external XML composition vendors, reducing the risk that changes will be lost or misinterpreted. The editing tool has a user-friendly interface with a Word processor-like environment, which publishers may customize to help enforce specific journal editing policies. Features include comprehensive edit tracking, interactive Author and Editor queries, internal image and figure formatting, formula editing, and more. As changes are made to the document, the editing tool constantly parses and validates the underlying XML, warning of inconsistencies such as missing citations, images, or tables, and displaying cautionary notifications when corrections are required.
LiXuid Manuscript has been under development by Aries for several years. The release of Xtract in version 15.1 of Editorial Manager®, the peer review tracking system, served as the initial building block for creating an XML-based workflow solution. Xtract uses XML behind the scenes to automatically extract and convert manuscript metadata to pre-populate fields during Author submission. LiXuid Manuscript’s long-term, multi-year roadmap will enable full-text XML conversion upstream within the peer review process, allowing all staff access to an online suite of editing tools from the moment of submission to enhance the entire publication workflow.
Aries COO Jennifer Fleet commented, “We are excited to release this next phase of LiXuid Manuscript, the XML editing tool. Our vision for LiXuid is to advance research by helping publications streamline their workflows from end-to-end. The launch of this editing tool is just the next step down a path of providing comprehensive XML solutions to publishers. LiXuid Manuscript combines innovative technology with enhanced workflow protocols to give publications a time-saving, cost-effective method of editing, and eventually, composition.”
