Making review results entirely visible to authors

Is there a way to make review results visible to authors in ConfTool,
including the feedback entered by reviewers and their individual evaluations?

(A German version of this article is available.)

Yes, the complete review results can be shown to authors in ConfTool.

When you log in as an author and cannot see the review results, please check the following:

1. Did you decide about acceptance or do the submissions still have the status "On Hold"?
Please go to:
Overview => Submissions & Reviews => Results of the Reviewing Procedure & Decision About Acceptance
... and set the decided status in the column "Acceptance Status".
See also:
Evaluating the Review Results and Setting the Acceptance Status of Submissions

2. Is the corresponding phase to show the results enabled?
Please go to:
Overview => Settings => Conference Phases and Deadlines
Scroll down to the section "Results of the Reviewing Procedures Are Accessible to Authors" and check the settings and dates.

3. Please make sure that there is no later / alternative deadline entered for the individual tracks.
You can also check the alternative dates on the page "Conference Phases and Deadlines".
To update the settings, please go to:
Overview => Settings => Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
Select a track and click on the button "Edit", then scroll down to the option "Alternative Date to Show Authors the Results of the Reviewing Procedure".
There is no alternative date set by default.

4. Are the review results to be displayed for the corresponding track / submission type?
Please go to:
Overview => Settings => Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
Select a track, click on the button "Edit" and scroll down to the section "Review Options".
Enable the option "Review Results" to display the details of all reviews to the authors.

5. The reviewers' comments have to be enabled in the review form options for the reviews:
Overview => Settings => Review Form Options and Factors
In the section "Main Text Fields for Reviewer Feedback" check the option "Comments for the Authors".
It is enabled per default.

6. You can also set for each submission type / track, if the reviewers' comments will be displayed to authors.
(Only if it has been enabled per default in "Factors for the Reviews", see above.)
Please edit the corresponding submission types / tracks here:
Overview => Settings => Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
Enable the expert settings on the bottom of the page by clicking on "Expert Settings Disabled" or the cogwheel.
Scroll down to "Further Settings"=> "Comments for the Authors".
Please choose "Use the default setting from 'Factors for Reviews': '[setting status]'", "Yes, required", or "Yes, optional" to make review results visible to authors.
If you choose "Disabled", comments entered will not be displayed.

7. For each acceptance status you can define whether the results will be displayed to authors.
Please go to:
Overview => Settings => Manage Acceptance Status
Select the corresponding status, click on the button "Edit Entry" and scroll down to the option "Show Results".
Select the appropriate setting here.
The results are shown by default for all statuses apart from "On Hold".
You can also enable to show the results for the status "On Hold" here (see screenshot).