Some customers have encountered a situation in Link Laboratory where a publication is rejected but no alternative publisher can be selected — the selection page loads blank with nothing actionable. In some cases, the platform then auto-assigns the order to a publisher without consent. This article explains what is happening and exactly what to do if you are affected.
These problems are related to the publisher assignment flow in Link Laboratory and can involve:
The publisher selection page appearing blank when a replacement is needed after a rejection.
An order being automatically reassigned to another publisher without your approval.
Orders remaining in an unclear state with no path to select a new publisher.
If your Link Laboratory orders are affected by auto-assign issues, a blank publisher selection page, or incorrect publisher assignments, follow these steps to prepare your request and understand what the support team will do on your behalf:
Identify the affected orders. Note all Link Laboratory order numbers where a publication was rejected, auto-assigned without your approval, or where you were unable to select a replacement publisher. Having these order numbers ready will speed up resolution.
Contact the Link Laboratory Exchange support team and provide your list of affected order numbers. In your message, specify which of the following actions you need:
Disable auto-assign for your account, so no further orders are reassigned to a publisher without your explicit approval.
Cancel incorrectly assigned orders for any orders that were auto-assigned to a publisher you did not approve.
Process an HDC credit refund for each cancelled order, returning the HDC credits to your account balance.
Manually assign a replacement publisher for any links that still need to be placed after the affected orders are resolved.
Confirm the changes with the support agent. Once the team has acted on your request, verify that auto-assign is turned off on your account, that the cancelled orders no longer appear as active, and that your HDC credit balance reflects the refunded amounts.
Place new orders manually. After your account is corrected, you can return to Link Laboratory and manually select your preferred publisher when placing or replacing orders, ensuring you retain full control over publisher assignments going forward.
If you are unsure which orders are affected or need help identifying them, the support team can review your account and flag impacted orders for you.
Because disabling auto-assign, processing HDC credit refunds, and cancelling incorrectly assigned orders require action from the Link Laboratory Exchange team, please reach out to our support team so an agent can review your account and apply these corrections as quickly as possible. You can contact us by visiting the Search Atlas Help Center and starting a conversation with our team.