Users lose data when they overlook the per-section Save buttons

[justingonder]

As a user, it's quite easy to overlook the per-section Save buttons and then accidentally lose data. For instance, I might fill out Title and Abstract information, overlook the 'Save Section 1' button. If I then move on to add an author, the page refreshes and the Title and Abstract I entered is gone.

Perhaps down-page sections could be greyed out if the previous section hasn't yet been saved? Or if the user takes an action that risks clearing un-saved data there's some kind of warning?