Maney Publishing has launched its customised production tracking system, ManeyTrack. ManeyTrack is a comprehensive web-based system which handles the tracking, information, and reporting elements of the journal production process. It has been developed in collaboration with MPS Limited.
The system was custom-built after an extensive search showed that there was no off-the-shelf solution available that fully met Maney’s needs, as identified from a comprehensive workflow analysis.
ManeyTrack has been created in order to introduce a more efficient production process, and is part of Maney Publishing’s end-to-end digital workflow. It enables authors to track the production status of accepted articles, and journal editors to track the status, content, and page and colour budgets of journal issues. Information displayed at article level includes estimated and actual production stages and dates, such as the expected date for receipt of proofs, and publication information. This live information can be accessed by an external author or editor at any time, whilst offering in-house staff a full overview of the real-time status of all material in production.
This new technology also reduces the amount of time between the acceptance of an article and its publication, and provides increased transparency throughout the production process for all involved.
Additionally, ManeyTrack automates functions such as article metadata capture and storage, article and issue tracking, and schedule creation, and also includes partially-automated issue make-up functionality and order generation. It measures supplier turn-around time and has an e-commerce facility for the payment processing of non-subscription revenue items, such as open access and printed colour.
Via MPS, the system is also available for licensing to other publishers, and will be branded as Journal Track. Journal Track has been tailor-made in collaboration with a production manager, to meet the needs of any academic publisher’s production department, which can benefit from a more streamlined, automated workflow and production process. Journal Track can also integrate with existing peer review systems and receive automated tracking data from suppliers.
