Is it decision making time? If so, you are in the right place! Before making your decisions, it is a good idea to double check and possibly update:
- the decision types in your system
- your RSVP settings
Important note for sites using the panels feature:
This article walks through the decision making process for individual submissions and panel contributions only. Be sure to check out this article on the panels and panel contributions decision making process.
Reviews will appear in the Decision Needed section when they are complete. Once they are here, you can begin applying decisions.
Applying a decision will move the submission into the Not Published section of the reviews funnel. Authors will not know your decision at this stage. They'll only become visible to authors when you publish decisions.
There are 3 ways to apply decisions to a submission. You can use the drop-down menu on just underneath the review scores.
You can click on a submission title to expand the review and see full details. If you scroll down, you will see the same decisions drop-down. You can select a decision type here. You can also leave comments that authors will see when you publish the decision, if needed.
And finally, you can select multiple submissions and apply decisions in bulk.
Tips on applying bulk decisions:
Filters can help make applying decisions in bulk an efficient process! For example, perhaps you will accept everything with a general score of 3 or above as an oral presentation. You could click on the More Filters button.
You could then use the scores filter to narrow the list down to your criteria.
Next, select everything in your list by using the top checkbox and apply the decision to all submissions using the Decide drop-down.
What if reviewers haven't finished their work and you need to make decisions?
This is a very common question! There are three ways to manage this situation:
- Give reviewers more time (if possible!)
- Remove the existing reviewer and add someone who can complete the review quickly (article here)
- Remove the incomplete reviews and make decisions with the information you already have (article here)
That's it! The next steps are to publish your decisions and notify your authors.