Aries Systems Corporation

Traditional article production workflows shuffle static, unstructured Word documents or PDFs between key stakeholders across disparate systems. During the copyediting stage, the document is circulated and marked up with edits between the Authors and the production Editor, and is then transferred to an XML typesetting operator responsible for interpreting and implementing the changes to a master file. In addition to issues with maintaining version control, errors in interpretation are common due to the operator’s lack of context and expertise with the content subject matter. This disjointed process of limited control, visibility, and management of content and communications introduced several risks, including decreased quality, increased costs, and delays to publication.

LiXuid Manuscript™, a ProduXion Manager^® (PM) feature, includes a suite of XML-based workflow tools that transform static, unstructured content and processes into dynamic, workable data. The LiXuid Manuscript production toolset includes a flexible direct content editing tool that alleviates these limitations by enabling easy, centralized revisions and proofing to the article without any user XML expertise required. With an intuitive, user-friendly interface, the tool maintains edits to a single document within a single system, eliminating version control confusion and siloed revisions. As changes are made to the document, the underlying XML is automatically updated and validated behind the scenes, eliminating the need for an expensive typesetting operator with XML knowledge, decreasing rounds of review, and reducing the risk that changes will be lost or misinterpreted.

The LiXuid Manuscript content editing tool is highly configurable, allowing publications to designate citation style, enable or restrict user views and access, and control behaviors of specific functions depending on their unique policies and preferences for user roles and production tasks. Users can insert tables, figures, equations, special characters and symbols, footnotes, citations, and much more. Track changes can be enabled to promote transparency of cumulative edits across different versions of the document. Editors and other production staff can enter optional or required queries for the Author to address on the article or its contents. Additionally, the editing tool conducts a real-time analysis of the document and alerts users to potential discrepancies based on pre-configured validations set by the publication, such as mismatches between author or year in the text of a bibliographic citation or if a table or figure was left uncited.

The LiXuid content editing interface streamlines the production proofing process through tighter collaboration, enhanced quality control, elimination of format constraints, and removal of costly silos. Together with the other tools in the LiXuid Manuscript production suite – the automatic XML text conversion tool and automatic pagination tool – the content editing face provides a more time- and cost-effective alternative to traditional article production. Tightly integrated with ProduXion Manager and leveraging XML behind the scenes, LiXuid Manuscript offers a true end-to-end, single stream workflow from production, publication, and beyond.

To learn more about the direct content editing tool, check out this case study with our integration partner or watch the tutorial video below. To get more information about additional tools in the LiXuid Manuscript suite can transform your production workflow, contact your Aries Account Coordinator or request a free demonstration today!