The 'Editorial Process' is the name for what happens to an entry once it has been picked from Peer Review by the Scouts. Here's a blow-by-blow account of the process, which you can track by looking for your entry on the What's Coming Up page:

• Once a Scout's recommendation is approved by someone on the in-house Editorial Team, the Peer Review Conversation is moved to the Conversation Forum for the entry itself (so the Sub-editors can read it) and a message is posted by the Editors to explain that it's been recommended for the Edited Guide. (This step takes about a day.)

• A copy is made of the entry, and the original is left untouched. This copy is set to 'recommended' status and cannot be edited by anyone except the Sub-editor to whom it will be allocated, and it will only appear on the Sub-editor's Space, not the author's. Please note that once this copy is made, any changes to the original will not be taken into account by the Sub-editors. (This step happens at the same time as the first step.)

• If the entry is over 2,000 words or so, it may be split up into two or more shorter linked entries so that it can be subbed efficiently. For this reason, you should indicate in very long entries where you'd like them split. (This step may take longer for very long entries, but it shouldn't take more than a day or two.)

• When the copy of your entry has been edited by that Sub-editor, its status changes from 'recommended' to 'pending', and it will appear on the author's Personal Space. (We ask the Sub-editors if they can return their entries within four weeks, but most return them well before then! If a Sub has an entry for more than four weeks, we ask them how it's going, and if there is a problem, we tend to take the entry in-house and put it through the system ourselves to avoid further delay.)

  When the inhouse Editors have had a chance to look at the entry, they may decide that it is a likely candidate to be an Editors' Selection of the Day, and will commission a picture for it.

  It's important to remember that Peer Review is not a final proof of an entry and changes will be made to fit in with editorial and style guidelines. Sub-editors and inhouse Editors will often make changes: they will correct grammar and spelling, will tweak GuideML, may change the style and may add in information. To find out more, check out What do the Sub-editors Do?

• Finally, this edited copy of your entry will go up on the Front Page, its status will change to 'Edited', and you'll be sent an official congratulatory email telling you it's in the Edited Guide. (This process tends to take a couple of weeks, or sometimes more, depending on the number of entries queuing up to go on the Front Page at the time.)

From the moment a Scout recommends your entry, this process can take anything from three weeks to two months. Don't forget, you can track your entry on the What's Coming Up page from start to finish.