Author Guide
Submitting and revising a record: logging in, the dashboard, the submission form, and accepting an authorship invitation.
For researchers, students, and community members publishing records on an iPlaces station (examples below use iPlaces Gump Station).
1. Logging in
iPlaces uses ORCID for login — no separate username or password.
- If you don't have an ORCID iD, register one first at https://orcid.org/register (takes about two minutes; it's free and stays with you across institutions).
- Go to your station's publishing site, e.g.
https://publish.iplacesalliance.org/gumpstation - Click Login with ORCID and authorize.
The login page. One button — your ORCID credentials do the rest.
The first time you log in, an account is created automatically from your ORCID profile.
If your dashboard already shows records the first time you log in, that's expected — records that list you as an author (by your ORCID iD) are connected to your account in advance.
2. Your dashboard
The dashboard: every record connected to your ORCID iD, with its current status.
The dashboard shows every record you're connected to as an author. For each one you can open the record, view its status, and (see §4) create a new version if changes are needed.
A record's status moves through: submitted → (editorial handling) → published. When a record is published it appears on the station's public site with a DOI — a permanent citable identifier.
3. Submitting a record
- From the dashboard, start a new submission.
- Fill in the form.
The submission form. Author entries each have an ORCID iD field — fill it wherever possible.
The fields matter — they become the public metadata and the DOI record:
- Title, abstract, resource type (project, dataset, conference paper…)
- Authors — add every author, with their ORCID iD wherever possible. An author with an ORCID is automatically connected to the record and can see it in their own dashboard; an author without one appears in the byline but has no account access.
- Email — include yours; it's how the station confirms your submission and reaches you with questions.
- Submit. You'll receive a confirmation email if you provided an address.
If you can't type in the text editor
The fix: Grammarly's site toggle, switched off for the publishing site.
If clicking into the abstract or manuscript text and typing produces nothing: disable the Grammarly browser extension for this site (click the Grammarly icon → turn off for this site), then hard-refresh the page (Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+R). Grammarly conflicts with the editor. Other writing-assistant extensions can cause the same symptom.
4. Making changes after submission
Records aren't edited in place once submitted — you create a new version:
- Open the record from your dashboard.
- Choose create a new version.
- Edit and resubmit. The editorial team is notified automatically.
The published page and DOI always reflect the latest published version.
A caution when several authors edit
If two people edit the same field at nearly the same time, the last save wins — the other person's change to that field is lost without warning. This matters most for the author list: coordinate with your co-authors before changing it, and don't edit it simultaneously.
5. Accepting an authorship invitation
You may receive an email saying a record lists you as an author, with Accept / Decline links.
Clicking Accept: the confirmation moment before the ORCID login step.
- Accept connects the record to your account: it appears in your dashboard and you can view and manage it. You'll be asked to log in with ORCID along the way (register one first if needed — the email includes the link).
- Decline records that you are not an author; you can optionally explain or ask not to be contacted again.
The links are personal to you — don't forward the email.
6. Getting help
Reply to any email from the station, or write to the station address (for Gump: gumpstation@iplacesalliance.org). Include the record's title or manuscript number if your question is about a specific record.