Editors are the coordinators of the peer-review process. You are responsible for a defined set of papers (usually within a track or a topic domain), from initial screening through to the final accept/reject decision. You do not typically read papers in depth yourself — you direct reviewers and synthesise their assessments into a decision.
The editorial workflow has three main phases:
When you log in, the Dashboard shows summary counts of papers in your assigned track(s):
| Panel | What it shows |
|---|---|
| New Submissions | Papers recently submitted that have not yet been assigned to any editor. (Admin-assigned papers may already appear here.) |
| Under Review | Papers that have been assigned reviewers and are awaiting review completion. |
| Review Complete | Papers where all assigned reviewers have submitted reviews — awaiting your decision. |
| With Author | Papers where you issued a revision decision and are awaiting the author's revised version. |
| Decisions Made | Accepted, Rejected, or Withdrawn papers. |
Click any panel to jump to a filtered list of those papers. The number in red or amber indicates papers that need attention (overdue reviews, stalled decisions).
Navigate to Assigned Papers in the sidebar to see all papers in your track. The list shows paper ID, title, submission type, current status, reviewer count, and days since submission.
Opening the Paper Workspace
Click a paper's title to open the Paper Workspace — the central page for managing that paper. From here you can:
- Read the abstract and download the manuscript
- View co-authors and submission metadata
- Assign and manage reviewers
- View submitted reviews
- Issue editorial decisions
- Request camera-ready documents
- View the paper's full history and audit trail
In the Paper Workspace, find the Reviewers section. Most conferences require 2–3 reviewers per paper. The reviewer pool consists of all registered reviewers in the conference.
Removing a Reviewer
If a reviewer must be removed after being assigned (e.g., they reported a late conflict), click the trash icon next to their name in the reviewer list. A substitute should be added immediately. The removed reviewer's draft review, if any, is discarded.
The Paper Workspace shows each reviewer's status in real time:
| Status | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Invited | Invitation sent, awaiting response. | Follow up if no response after 3 days. |
| Accepted | Reviewer accepted the assignment. | No action needed; monitor deadline. |
| Declined | Reviewer declined. | Assign a substitute immediately. |
| Draft Saved | Reviewer has started but not submitted. | Send a reminder if close to deadline. |
| Completed | Review submitted and locked. | Review the submission. |
| Overdue | Deadline passed, review not submitted. | Send a reminder; consider a substitute. |
Sending Reminders
Click Send Reminder next to an overdue reviewer to send them an automated email. You can customise the message before sending. A reminder log is kept on the paper's history tab.
Reading Submitted Reviews
Once a reviewer submits, their review is immediately visible to you (but not to the authors — authors see reviews only after your decision is issued). The review includes:
- Recommendation (Accept / Minor / Major / Reject)
- Comments to authors
- Confidential comments to editor
- Criteria scores (if defined)
- Any attached annotated file
Once you have sufficient reviews, open the Paper Workspace and scroll to the Editorial Decision section. Read all reviews — including the confidential comments — before deciding.
Decision Types
After a Revision is Submitted
When the author uploads a revised manuscript, you will receive a notification. Go to the Paper Workspace and download the revision. For minor revisions, you may decide yourself whether the changes are satisfactory. For major revisions, assign the reviewers for a second round from the same reviewer list.
After issuing an Accept decision, the authors must submit final (camera-ready) documents. This step is opened by you — the authors cannot see the camera-ready upload section until you activate it.
All communication with authors should go through the platform's messaging system on the paper workspace, not via personal email. This ensures a complete audit trail and keeps all communications visible to the conference admin.
- Decision letters are sent automatically when you issue a decision — do not email authors separately about the decision.
- Queries — if you need clarification from the author before making a decision, use the Send Message to Author function in the Paper Workspace.
- Reminders — if an author has not submitted their revision by the deadline, the system can send an automated reminder. You can also send a custom message.
- Withdrawal requests — if an author asks to withdraw, confirm with them once, then use the Withdraw action in the Paper Workspace. The paper is immediately removed from the review queue.