Submission of papers is possible only in electronic form via PeerTrack™, the online submission interface provided by Allen Press. In order to submit a paper, you need to be registered as an author on the MRD PeerTrack™ site.

Once you have prepared your submission according to the section-specific instructions and technical guidelines, you can begin the online submission process. Although you may interrupt the process after each step and return to complete your submission later, we recommend that you have all items ready that are listed under “Preparing your submission” in the section-specific guidelines. The submission interface includes detailed instructions on how to enter the information required. The online submission process consists of the following steps:

Step 1: Log onto the MRD submission site
If you already have a Username/Password for the MRD PeerTrack™ interface: Go to Login
If you need a Username/Password: Go to Registration
Make sure you are logged in as an Author (see center of black bar at top of the screen). Then go to the Author Main Menu and choose “Submit New Manuscript.”

Step 2: Select article type
Please select the appropriate journal section from the dropdown menu. Make sure you have consulted MRD's section policies before you decide which journal section to submit to, and note that your submission must conform to the appropriate section-specific guidelines.

Step 3: Enter title
Please enter the full title of your paper. In addition, you may enter a short title. We recommend that you copy and paste the title from the submission file you prepared beforehand (see “Preparing your submission” in the section-specific guidelines).

Step 4: Enter co-authors (if applicable)
Please enter all of your co-authors. For each co-author, in the Affiliation field please enter the affiliation and postal address, in the following format: Department, Institution, Address, Postal Code, City, Country. We recommend that you copy and paste these bits of text from the submission file you prepared beforehand (see “Preparing your submission” in the section-specific guidelines).

IMPORTANT: You may enter one of your co-authors as the corresponding author for this paper by checking the appropriate checkbox when adding this co-author. However, note that this has the following consequences: 1) You will be asked to make a full registration for this person, upon which they will be sent their own personal Username and Password. 2) The person you enter as the corresponding author will have to complete this submission process by viewing and approving the material you submit; only then will the submission be received by the journal office. 3) The corresponding author will be the only one who can edit the manuscript, submit revisions, and view the progress of the manuscript as it moves from one stage to the next in the review process. This means that if you enter someone other than yourself as the corresponding author, the submission will have to be completed by them, and you will no longer be able to access your submission once that you finish attaching your files.

Step 5: Enter abstract (only for MountainDevelopment, MountainResearch, and MountainNotes)
An abstract must be entered for MountainDevelopment, MountainResearch, and MountainNotes articles; in the case of MountainNotes articles it may also take the form of a lead paragraph. We recommend that you copy and paste the abstract from the submission file you prepared beforehand. Your abstract should be between 150 and 300 words in length. If you are submitting to the MountainPlatform, MountainViews, or MountainMedia section, please skip this step.

Step 6: Enter keywords (required only for MountainDevelopment and MountainResearch)
Please enter 5 to 8 keywords. We recommend that you copy and paste the keywords from the submission file you prepared beforehand. If you are submitting to a section other than MountainDevelopment and MountainResearch, please skip this step.

Step 7: Select classifications (required for MountainDevelopment, MountainResearch, and MountainNotes)
Please select up to 5 classifications describing the contents of your paper. Classifications are used to match papers and reviewers – the more accurate your classifications are, the easier it will be to find appropriate reviewers for your paper. If you are submitting to the MountainNotes section, the classifications will be used to produce statistics of the topics presented in MRD's MountainDevelopment, MountainResearch and MountainNotes sections.

Step 8: Provide additional information
In this step, you are required to answer three additional questions:

• Have the results/data/figures in this manuscript been published, including on the Internet, or are they under consideration for publication elsewhere? If so, please identify results/data/figures taken from other published/pending manuscripts in the text box below and explain why this does not constitute dual publication. If not, please enter “No.”
  Note that once you submit your manuscript to MRD, you must not submit it elsewhere unless you withdraw it from MRD. Should the Editors find out that significant parts of the material have been published elsewhere prior to publication in MRD, your manuscript will be rejected and you will be charged for the processing costs.
  Papers submitted to MRD must not have been published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Exception: Papers previously published in a language other than English may be considered for publication in MRD.
• Please confirm in the textbox below that you will pay the required author fee if your paper is accepted for publication – US$ 500 or more* for MountainDevelopment and MountainResearch articles, US$ 250 or more* for MountainNotes articles – by typing "I agree." Otherwise, please explain why you wish to apply for a partial or full waiver of this fee. If you are submitting a contribution to another section, type "not applicable."
  * The fee will be higher if your paper exceeds the maximum length stipulated in the guidelines, or if you include color figures in a MountainResearch or MountainNotes article. Please read our detailed author fee policy on the journal website:
  www.mrd-journal.org/about_afee.asp.
  For more details, please see our Author fee policy.
• Does your manuscript contain any copyrighted material (eg figures, tables, trademarks, logos)? If not, please enter "No." If it does, please identify the copyrighted materials in the textbox below, and for each item confirm that you have obtained written permission from the copyright holder to use it, by typing "permission obtained."
  Authors of MRD articles are responsible for obtaining written permission to publish or reproduce any copyrighted material from the copyright holders.

Step 9: Enter comments (optional)
Here you have the possibility of entering comments for MRD's Editors regarding your submission.

Step 10: Suggest reviewers (MountainDevelopment and MountainResearch only; optional)
If you are submitting to the MountainDevelopment or the MountainResearch section, you have the possibility of suggesting potential reviewers for your submission. The Editors will decide whether to use your suggestions after careful assessment of each case. Suggesting reviewers may speed up the selection of appropriate reviewers. If you are submitting to a section other than MountainDevelopment and MountainResearch, please skip this step.

Step 11: Oppose reviewers (MountainDevelopment and MountainResearch only; optional)
If you are submitting to the MountainDevelopment or the MountainResearch section, you may identify anyone who you would prefer not to review this manuscript. If you do so, please provide specific reasons why each person should not review your submission (person knows the project, conflict of interest, etc). The Editors will try to accommodate your wishes. If you are submitting to a section other than MountainDevelopment and MountainResearch, please skip this step. 

Step 12: Select focus country
Select the focus country of your manuscript from the drop-down menu below. You can only select one country. If your manuscript focuses on a wider region comprising several countries, please choose the one country that is most prominently addressed.

Step 13: Upload your manuscript
Now you are required to upload the various files that you prepared according to the technical guidelines.

IMPORTANT: Please make sure that the “Manuscript,” “Figure,” “Table/Box” and “Supplemental Material” type files do not contain any author information , figure credits or acknowledgments. Acknowledgments and figure credits should be submitted in a separate “Cover Letter/Acknowledgments” type file. Author information is registered in the database and should not be repeated in any of the files you attach.

Step 14: View and approve your submission
Once you have uploaded all files, the system will build a PDF containing your complete submission. Some minutes later you will find the PDF under “Submissions Waiting for Author's Approval” in your Author Main Menu. (You will also be notified by e-mail when your submission is ready to view and approve.) Click “View Submission” under Action Links in the first column of your list of submissions. If necessary, you can change your submission by clicking “Edit Submission” under Action Links. Please check that figures and tables/boxes appear in the right order, ie according to the list of captions provided in the body text. If the PDF looks correct, click “Approve Submission.” You will then be sent an e-mail to confirm that your submission has been received by the journal office. From then on, you will be able to check on the status of your paper by logging on to PeerTrack™. You will also be updated by e-mail whenever the status of your submission changes.