Review Request Manual
Table of Contents
1. Review Request Function Introduction
2. How to Configure the Review Request Function
3. How to Use the Review Request Function
3.1. Sending Review Requests
3.2. Accepting / Rejecting Review Requests
3.3. How to Manage Review Requests
1. Review Request Function Introduction
With the review request function, you can let different user groups send out requests to other persons in which they are asked if they would like to review a specific submission. It can be used if you want to allow certain user groups to add more reviewers to the system.
The drawback compared to the normal review assignment function is that this process is less efficient as it involves more steps compared to a user import and the automatic assignment function. Please check first if either the invitation function or the import function is better suited for your specific conference structure. When you use the review request function, a separate e-mail is sent per review request and therefore many more e-mails are sent to reviewers. Furthermore, please be reminded that chairs and organizers will lose some of the control over the quality of the reviewing process as new users might be invited to become reviewers for the event who were not screened by the chairs.
Two examples for the use of the review request function: First, your conference is set up with multiple thematic tracks (or for instance workshops) and you have designated track chairs who each are solely responsible for the reviewing part of their track. With the review request function, track chairs can now invite new reviewers for each paper separately. In a second scenario, the chairs want to allow the meta-reviewers to invite more reviewers for the submissions they are reviewing. The review request function also meets this requirement.
2. How to Configure the Review Request Function
Please start the set-up process on this page:
Overview => Settings => Main Settings for the Review Process
In the section “Alternative Review Request Function” activate the option “Allow Sending Requests to Review Single Papers?”. Continue to define the settings for the option “Groups Permitted to Request Reviews”. First, you can define which user groups will be allowed to send review request. Second, you have to define what kind of “User Status / Role” and “Review Types” these user groups will be allowed to use for the review requests. Finally, do not forget to enable the module, define a start and end date and save your new input by clicking on the button “Save Data” on the bottom of the page (see image 1).
3. How to Use the Review Request Function
3.1 Sending Review Requests
Depending on the status of the user, there are two ways to access the review request function.
For administrators, conference chairs and track chairs
If your user status is administrator, conference chair or track chair, please go to the list of submissions:
Overview => Submissions & Reviews => List of Submissions
In the column “Actions” on the right, click on the link “New Review Request” (see image 2).
Please skip the next paragraph to continue.
For PC members, senior and meta-reviewers
As a PC-member, senior reviewer or meta-reviewer, you do not have the list of all submissions available in your account. Therefore, go to the list of submissions assigned to you for reviewing:
Overview => Enter and Edit Reviews
In the box to the right of each submission, you will find several links. Click on “Review Requests” to request a review from someone else for that paper (see image 3). In case review requests have already been sent out for this submission by other users, click on “Send New Review Request” to start the process.
For each new review request, you can define a “Request Expiry Date”, after which the request will no longer be valid. The “Review Deadline” is the current deadline defined for the submission type / track of the contribution. Both dates can be inserted in the message body.
If enabled, for the option “User Status of Person” you may be able to choose between user statuses “reviewer” and “PC member”. Similarly, if activated, for the option “Review Type” you can ask for a normal, a senior or a meta-review.
In the section “Receiver of the Request / Invitation”, you have to define the recipient of the review request. If you have already invited reviewers before or you are a chair, you can click on the link “Select receiver from list of previous review requests and list of all users” and a list of available users or previously used persons’ details will appear. Alternatively, you can always enter the recipient’s name and e-mail address directly into the provided fields (see image 4).
In the section “Your Message to the Person You Invite to Review the Submission” enter the “Message Subject” and “Message Body”. In the message body, work with the codes provided. These placeholders will be replaced by actual text or links when the e-mail is sent out. Don’t forget to use the {response_link}, which allows the recipient to respond to your request; it is a mandatory code. If everything is in good order, click on the button “Preview Review Request Message” (see image 5).
On the following page, you will see a preview of the message with the codes replaced by text or links. E-mails will always be sent out in plain text and cannot be HTML formatted. If you want a blind carbon copy of the message sent to your e-mail account, then check the box for the option “Send BCC to Sender”. If everything is fine, click on the button “Send Review Request Now” (see image 6).
3.2 Accepting / Rejecting Review Requests
There are two scenarios possible when users try to accept the review request. Either the person already is a user in that specific ConfTool installation (remember that ConfTool does not store user details for all conferences organized with ConfTool, but only for each separate event). Or the person does not have a user account yet.
All recipients – regardless of user status – can click on the link to view the review request. They will be able to see the main details of the submission, including title and abstract. They will then have to decide whether to accept the review request, reject it, or ask for additional information. If they want to, they can include a personal message, which is required when asking for additional information (see image 7).
- Recipients without a ConfTool account
In case a recipient without a ConfTool user account accepts the review request, he/she will be prompted to register as a new user and create a user account. ConfTool checks for corresponding names and e-mail addresses to ascertain whether the person already has an account or not. Duplicated user accounts can occur when several different e-mail addresses are used. As the main admin, it usually makes sense to clean up the database after a certain while. Once the recipients have finished the user registration, their user status will be set either to reviewer or PC member, depending on the setting in the review request. - Recipients who are already users
In case the recipient of the review request already has a user account and accepts the request, he/she will either be prompted to log in with the personal user details to be able to review the submission or – if the person is already logged in when accepting the request – will see a message that he/she has accepted the review request and can now start to review the submission.Recipients who are already users can furthermore directly access all review requests in their user accounts. They can open the page:
Overview => Show Review Requests Received
… to view and reply to all review requests.
Once users have accepted the review requests, they will be able to review the submissions just like any other submission that has been directly assigned to them by a chair. They will furthermore see a link “Show Review Requests Received” to view and reply to all review requests (see image 8).
3.3 How to Manage Review Requests
For administrators, conference chairs and track chairs
Please go to the list of submissions:
Overview => Submissions & Reviews => List of Submissions
In the column “Reviewers / Reviews” you can click on “Requests” to be guided to the page “Manage Review Requests” with all review requests connected with this submission. In the line below you will find information about the number of requests that are open, those with reviewers waiting for a reply, and the ones that have been rejected or accepted.
On the page “Manage Review Requests” you will find the list of all review requests. In the column “Request Messages” click on the message link to view the message. If the invited person has asked for more information, you will find the message here, to which you can also reply. You can use any message that has already been sent as a template to invite another person. In the column “Actions”, you can open the details of the request, edit or delete it (see image 9).
For PC members, senior and meta-reviewers
Please go to the list of submissions assigned to you for reviewing:
Overview => Enter and Edit Reviews
In the box to the right of each submission, you will find several links. Click on “Review Requests” to access the list of review requests. In the column “Request Messages” click on the message link to view the message. If the invited person has asked for more information, you will find the message here, to which you can also reply. You can use any message that has already been sent as a template to invite another person. In the column “Actions”, you can open the details of the request, edit or delete it. Please be reminded that you will only be able to access review requests sent from your own user account (see image 10).
Status of Review Requests
Review Requests can have four different statuses.
- Open: The review request has been sent out and the request link has not been opened so far.
- Accessed by Recipient: The request link has been opened, however the recipient has not responded yet.
- Reviewer Waiting for Reply: The recipient of this review request needs more information, has sent a message to the original sender and is now waiting for a reply.
- Accessed, but no User Account Created: The recipient of this review request has accessed and confirmed the invitation, but has not created a user account yet.
- Request Accepted: The recipient opened the link and accepted the request.
- Request Rejected: The recipient opened the link and rejected the request.
Furthermore, when deleted, a review request will keep the latest status and additionally will be marked as “Request Deleted”.
Similarly, if a review request has expired, this new status will be displayed in the list of review requests (see image 11). However, as long as the review phase is open, recipients will still be able to accept or decline the request. They will see a warning message before they can proceed.
