Publishers now generally prepare manuscripts of periodicals and books for formatting and the press with computer programmes. Scientists who publish in scholarly journals are aware that manuscripts placed in international journals can most often only be submitted electronically, via the internet. An electronic editorial system is a combination of an internet application and a database. In the present contribution, a description is given of the system which will be employed by the Dutch Journal of Dentistry. Authors have to proceed through various stages in order to submit a manuscript electronically. When a manuscript has been submitted, authors, referees, and editors can proceed through and monitor the step-by-step editorial process via the internet.