Managing the Editorial Process Using

Workflows in Archie

IMS Support Person: Becky Gray Place: Keystone, Colorado, USADate: Tuesday, 19 October 2010

General plan for today• Brief review of basics of workflow system• More detailed look at a few more advanced topics• Focus will be on helping you use the workflow

system to manage your Group’s work at least one level above the management of indiviudal reviews– Customize system to meet your needs more closely– Reduce/simplify repetitive tasks– Generate basic reports/summary information about

your Group

• No hands-on exercises, but some live demos

Background to today’s session

• Three-stage pilot of the workflow system now completed – Steering Group has decided that use of the system will become mandatory for all CRGs (sometime, in some form)

• Survey recently conducted of MEs in workflow pilot CRGs

• New version of Archie (3.3) deployed on 15 September 2010 with many new features relating to workflows

Specific agenda

• Basics of the workflow system• New (in Archie 3.3) options for customization

– Part 1: Task emails– Part 2: Workflow templates

• Reports, summaries, and overviews (drawing on ME survey results)

• Discussion/questions

BASICS OF THE WORKFLOW SYSTEM

Purposes of Archie’s workflow system To help CRGs:• Keep track of where each review is in the

editorial process• Inform people (Editors, Authors, Referees) when

they need to take action• Plan and prioritize work across multiple reviews• Identify and analyze trends in the Group’s

processes (e.g., by identifying common “bottlenecks” in the review process)

What is a workflow?• An ordered and interrelated sequence of

tasks that need to be completed to achieve a finished product (e.g., a published protocol) – sometimes depicted in the form of a “flowchart”

• Involves some decision tasks (“yes/no”), as well as non-decision tasks

• May involve repeating loops or parallel strings of tasks

Workflows available in Archie

• Title Registration• Protocol Development• Protocol Amendment• Review Development• Review Amendment• Review Update

Other (Archie-specific) terms

• Workflow RolesSimilar to Document Roles – link specific people with specific tasks in a workflow

• Workflow ManagerPerson at the editorial base who is responsible for the editorial processing of a review and for managing the associated workflow

Workflow Properties – People tab

People tab lists the Workflow Roles available for the selected workflow and shows the people these have been assigned to

Other (Archie-specific) terms

• TaskIndividual task within a workflow – assigned to a specific person or persons via Workflow Roles

• Task durationLength of time scheduled for completion of an individual task (in days)

Other (Archie-specific) terms

• Task assigneePerson to whom a task is assigned

• MilestonesMarkers in the Tasks list indicating that a significant point in the workflow/editorial process has been reached (e.g., authors have submitted their review for editorial approval)

Workflow Properties – Tasks tab

Workflow Properties – Files tab

NEW OPTIONS FOR CUSTOMIZATION – PART 1: TASK EMAILS

Task emails

• Introduced in Archie 3.3 (15 September 2010)

• Expansion and improvement of the former “ticketing system”

• Allow for more customization• Reduce repetitive work

Archie’s “ticketing system”• A special messaging system within the workflow

system

o Used to inform people outside the editorial base when it is time for them to perform a specific task

o Email generated by the system is sent to the person assigned to the task; all documents needed to complete the task can be attached to the email

o Recipient accesses a web link in the email to let the Workflow Manager know (via Archie) when the task has been completed and to submit relevant documents (e.g., completed refereeing forms)

Advantages of the ticketing system

• Easy communication between editorial base and people assigned tasks

• Provides task assignees with everything they need to complete their task and report back to the editorial base without logging into Archie

• Integrated into the workflow system – allows tracking of communication and automatic updating of information about tasks

Limitations of the ticketingsystem

• Possible to customize the text of ticketing emails, but had to do this on an individual, case-by-case basis

• Not appropriate for use in cases where a ticket is not needed, e.g., when simply reminding people within the editorial base of their tasks

New task email system – three major changes

1) Now two different types of task emails:• Ticket email – Task email containing a link to a ticket that allows recipient to

complete task and submit documents • Information email – Task email without a ticket. Used to communicate about

a task when a ticket is not needed, e.g.:– To communicate with TSC about a task assigned to her/him. TSC logs into Archie to mark

task as complete, so doesn’t need Ticket.– To provide author with information relating to “Submit draft protocol/review for editorial

approval” task. No need for ticket, since submitting the draft marks the task as Completed in the workflow.

Click Create Click Create

Creating a (ticket) task emailTo create a task email open the task Properties and go to the Emails tab

To create a task email open the task Properties and go to the Emails tab

Or in the Tasks tab of the workflow Properties right-click an In Progress task and choosing Send Task Email…

Or in the Tasks tab of the workflow Properties right-click an In Progress task and choosing Send Task Email…

Creating a (ticket) task email

The Message tab provides a preview of the ticketing email that will be sent to the task assignee and allows you to edit the subject line and the text of the email, add cc recipients, and mark the email as high priority

The Message tab provides a preview of the ticketing email that will be sent to the task assignee and allows you to edit the subject line and the text of the email, add cc recipients, and mark the email as high priority

From pull-down menu it is possible to choose to send a Standard ticket email or Standard information emailFrom pull-down menu it is possible to choose to send a Standard ticket email or Standard information email

Creating a (ticket) task email

On the Attachments tab you can select documents to attach to the ticketing email

These may include a version of the review (in RevMan and/or PDF formats), documents stored in your CRG’s Files folder in Archie, and/or up to 10 documents stored on your local computer not bigger then 5 Mb

Use or buttons to browse to the files

On the Attachments tab you can select documents to attach to the ticketing email

These may include a version of the review (in RevMan and/or PDF formats), documents stored in your CRG’s Files folder in Archie, and/or up to 10 documents stored on your local computer not bigger then 5 Mb

Use or buttons to browse to the files

Tick “Attach a review version” to attach a copy of the review in RevMan or PDF (or both) formats

Tick “Attach a review version” to attach a copy of the review in RevMan or PDF (or both) formats

Click OK to send the TicketClick OK to send the Ticket

Receiving a TicketThe assignee will receive an email with the subject line and text as previewed and edited by you

The email includes:

a.a. A link to the actual ‘ticket’ which allows the recipient to notify you (via Archie) when they have completed their task

b.b. A link to a one-page document with a brief explanation of the ticketing system

c.c. Any documents you selected for attachment

The email includes:

a.a. A link to the actual ‘ticket’ which allows the recipient to notify you (via Archie) when they have completed their task

b.b. A link to a one-page document with a brief explanation of the ticketing system

c.c. Any documents you selected for attachment

ba

c

Accessing the Ticket

If the task involves submitting comments or feedback, files containing these can be attached to the ticket for transmission back to you (and saved in the Files tab of the Workflow’s properties)

If the task involves submitting comments or feedback, files containing these can be attached to the ticket for transmission back to you (and saved in the Files tab of the Workflow’s properties)

If the recipient’s comments are brief, they may be typed directly into the ‘Brief notes’ box, which are saved as a ‘Notes made’ Event in the task’s History

When the ticket recipient clicks Mark Task as Done the task is automatically marked as Completed in the workflow in Archie

When the ticket recipient clicks Mark Task as Done the task is automatically marked as Completed in the workflow in Archie

Creating an (information) task email

From pull-down menu it is possible to choose to send a Standard ticket email or Standard information emailFrom pull-down menu it is possible to choose to send a Standard ticket email or Standard information email

New task email system – three major changes

2) Now possible to create and save multiple task email templates that can be used repeatedly in different workflows:

• New “Edit Task Email Templates” option• Can customize email templates in multiple ways

Editing Task Email Templates

• Right-click the name of your CRG and choose Edit Task Email Templates...

• Go to Tools > Edit Task Email Templates…

• Highlight the name of your CRG, the go to File > Edit Task Email Templates…

To edit or create a task email template, begin by doing any of the following:

Edit Task Email Templates

Demo (see handout):• View Standard information and ticket emails• To create a new task email based on one of the

standard templates, begin by creating a Copy of the relevant template and modify this

• To create a new template “from scratch,” click Add and build your new template

Examples

Examples of task email templates you might want to create:

• Ticket email for External Referees for task “Review and comment on draft protocol”

• Information email for TSC for task “Check and comment on search strategy”

• Other examples?

NEW OPTIONS FOR CUSTOMIZATION – PART 2: WORKFLOW TEMPLATES

Customization of workflow templates• Workflow templates can be customized in some

ways to reflect more closely the way your Group works

• Searching in Archie and survey of pilot MEs suggest that relatively few CRGs currently using customized templates

• New option introduced in Archie 3.3 (15 September 2010)

New task email system – three major changes

3) Now possible to link specific task email templates with specific tasks in the workflow templates

• Once this is done, whenever you opt to send a task email related to the selected task in the selected workflow, the task email template you have identified will appear as the default option

Editing a workflow templateTo edit a workflow template for use in your CRG, begin by doing any of the following:

• Right-click the name of your CRG and choose Edit Workflow Templates...

• Go to Tools > Edit Workflow Templates…

• Right-click your CRG’s Workflows folder and choose Edit Workflow Templates…

Editing a workflow templateSelect the template you want to edit from the pull-down listSelect the template you want to edit from the pull-down list

Editing a workflow template

To select individuals who should always be the default choice for specific Workflow Roles, go to the People tab and use the Select Person icons to match specific people to specific Roles

To select individuals who should always be the default choice for specific Workflow Roles, go to the People tab and use the Select Person icons to match specific people to specific Roles

The people you select will appear as the default selections for the specified Workflow Roles each time the new workflow is runThe people you select will appear as the default selections for the specified Workflow Roles each time the new workflow is run

Click OK to finishClick OK to finish

Intermission:Discussion and questions?

REPORTS, SUMMARIES, AND OVERVIEWS

Survey of pilot MEs

• Asked some specific questions about use and perceived utility of various kinds of reports, summaries, and overviews

• Good news and bad news here...

The bad news…

• Not quite where we want to be yet (one-click access to the most frequently used reports and summaries)

• However...

The good news…

• There are a number of fairly simple things you can do now to generate useful reports, summaries, and overviews

• ME survey revealed that pilot users are (generally speaking) not aware of many of these options

A reminder

Reports we are discussing will be most helpful if/when you are running workflows on a high percentage of your active reviews

Options now available

• Customizing the Workflows folder view under Resources

• Using Advanced Search• Using the Workflow Status Report

Customizing the Workflowsfolder view

• Clear from survey that many MEs are not aware of possibilities here

• Advantages:– Very good for getting a quick overview of status of

things in your CRG– Can sort on columns– Can export to HTML table or Excel

• Limitation:– Does not show tasks

Using Advanced Search• Clear from survey that many MEs are not aware of

possibilities here• Advantages:

– Can do fairly complicated things, including crossing workflow and task searches

– Can export search results to HTML table or Excel

• Limitations:– Search syntax fairly complicated/unintuitive– Can’t sort search results in Archie

Using the Workflow Status Report• Clear from survey that many MEs are not aware of

possibilities here• Advantages:

– Can provide detailed information on workflow and task status

– Report can be saved and/or printed

• Limitations:– Must generate separate reports for

titles/protocols/reviews in some cases– Output can provide too much detail (especially in large

CRGs)

Three sample reports

• All protocols and reviews currently in the editorial process

• All protocols and reviews overdue at any stage in the editorial process

• Current workload of [Person X] in my CRG

Report 1: All protocols and reviews in the editorial process

• Strategy: Use the Workflow Status Report• Demo/exercise – see handout

Report 2: Protocols and reviews overdue at any stage in the editorial

process• Strategy 1: Use the Workflows folder view

for a quick overview• Strategy 2: Use the Workflow Status

Report for more details• Demos/exercises – see handout

Report 3: Current workload of [Person X] in my CRG

• Recommended strategy: Use Advanced Search for Tasks

• Demo/exercise – see handout

Discussion and questions

Where to get help and support

• Most up-to-date documentation on workflows currently in Archie Help

• User Guide on Workflows will be updated soon to reflect Archie 3.3

• If you have any questions or encounter any problems using the workflow system, please contact your IMS Support person