- The Journal Manager and Editor's Assistant, who are in daily communication with the Editor, will together determine when the Editor becomes unavailable to execute his or her duties.
- The Journal Manager will immediately inform the JBMC Chair about the Editor's unavailability. The JBMC Chair will inform the AAPM Board of Directors that the Editor Contingency Plan is being initiated.
- The JBMC Chair then will serve as the point of contact for the distribution and continuation of editorial responsibilities.
- Assisted by the two Deputy Editors, the JBMC Chair will distribute editorial responsibilities among a group of several Editorial Board members who have been pre-selected by the Editor.
- When the Journal Manager receives a new manuscript, a revised manuscript, or the decision of an Associate Editor for an in-process review, the JBMC Chair will be asked to identify, in consultation with the Deputy Editors, one of the selected Editorial Board members to serve as editor for that manuscript.
- The assigned Board member will act as the editor for that manuscript as the review process moves forward. The decision of the assigned Board member regarding a manuscript will carry the full force of the editor's position.
- Other communications between Editor and authors (besides manuscript disposition notifications) will be forwarded to the JBMC Chair by the Journal Manger or Editor's Assistant for appropriate action.
- Other editorial business of the Journal will, at the discretion of the JBMC Chair, be handled through an appropriate combination of JBMC Chair, Deputy Editors, Editor's Assistant, and Journal Manager.
- This process will remain in effect until such time as the Editor is able to resume editorial duties or another editor is selected and approved by the AAPM Board of Directors.
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