How Can Journals Better Serve Authors?

She asks: “Are there little things journals could be doing to make authors lives a little better”?
A philosopher who was recently appointed to an editorial position at an academic journal has a question for authors.

What kinds of things?
Whether that or other suggestions might work for any particular journal may depend on various factors (such as volume of submissions an editor handles), but it would be good to get some ideas out there. What should editors consider doing? (Also: what are editors at some journals doing that others should consider emulating?)

If the author of a paper I’m handing hasn’t received a decision three months after submission, I e-mail them letting them know what stage the process is at, and my estimate about when they’ll get a verdict. It only takes me a minute to do, and my hope is that it takes some of the anxiety out of the waiting period.
Here’s one example she shares: