Assign Reviews using the Review Assignment Tool

The Review Assignment Tool simplifies the process of assigning submissions to reviewers with a step-by-step workflow that involves selecting submissions, assigning reviewers, configuring settings, and finalizing assignments.  

To begin, select Power Tools from the main navigation page. Then, expand the Review Tools bucket and select Assign Reviews. This will launch the Review Assignment Tool.

To use the Review Assignment Tool, follow the steps below: 

Step 1 - Select Abstracts (Submissions)  

1. Select the submissions you want to review by selecting the checkboxesnext to each submission. 
   1. To select all submissions from any open buckets, use the checkbox in the upper left corner. 
   2. To assign a specific selection of submissions, use the Focus button in the upper right corner to filter submissions by Topic, Type, Group, Decision, Custom Field, etc. 
2. Next, select Continue to Step 2.

Step 2 - Select Reviewers 

1. Select the reviewers to whom you want to assign reviews by selecting the checkboxes next to the reviewer. 
   1. To select all reviewers at once, use the checkbox in the upper left corner. 
   2. To select only a subset of reviewers, use the Focus button to filter by Primary Group or Percent Complete.  
   3. Next, select Collapse All to close all reviewer buckets and open only the bucket(s) you need.  
   4. Finally, select reviewers within the open bucket(s) using the checkbox in the upper left corner. 
2. Then, select Continue to Step 3.

Step 3 - Configure Settings 

1. Select how to assign submissions to reviewers based on specific criteria. 
   1. To assign all selected submissions to all selected reviewers, choose Assign Every Selected Abstract to All Selected Reviewers from the Select Assignment Method dropdown menu. 
   2. To assign specific submissions to specific reviewers, choose Configure Custom Review Assignments from the Select Assignment Method dropdown menu.

2. To prevent reviewer conflicts, choose Yes from the Avoid Reviewer Conflicts? dropdown. This ensures that reviewers will not be assigned submissions where there is a conflict based on first or last name, email, or organization. If you select No, the tool will not check for conflicts. 
3. In the Match reviewer groups against abstract data when assigning reviewsdropdown, you can match reviewer groups to submission fields.  
   1. If you have created reviewer groups, select the submission field that corresponds with them (e.g., if reviewer groups align with submission topics, select the term used for submission topics from the settings page). 
   2. If you have not created or imported reviewer groups using the Reviewers Worksheet, choose Do not match reviewer groups.  

4. Next, choose how submissions are assigned: 
   • Assign submissions evenly among reviewers (e.g., each reviewer gets the same number of submissions). 
   • Assign more submissions to reviewers with fewer existing reviews. 
5. Then, specify how many times each submission needs to be reviewed, considering previous assignments. 
   • For example, if each submission requires 3 reviews and all submissions have been assigned to be reviewed by a Chair, assigning them to regular reviewers would require 4 reviews instead of 3. 
6. Finally, use the last field to set a limit on the number of reviews per reviewer, if needed. 
7. Then, select Continue to Step 4.

Step 4 - Review & Assign  

After selecting Continue to Step 4, the Review Assignment Tool will begin processing. Please wait until the progress bar reaches 100% completion.  

If Step 4 indicates that no assignments have been made, please review the previous steps to ensure the assignment settings are correct. For additional troubleshooting, please contact your Project Manager.  

1. Select Preview Assignmentsbutton to view assignments before they are assigned to Reviewers.  
   • A PDF preview will open in a new tab, displaying all assignments for the Reviewers selected in Step 2. If you enabled Avoid Reviewer Conflicts in Step 3, the PDF will list any detected conflicts based on first or last name, email or organization.
2. After reviewing the assignments, close the PDF and, if everything looks correct, select Add Assignments button to finalize the assignments. 

Once the assignments are added, you have the option to: 

1. Select Add More to return to Step 1 of the Review Assignment Tool, or 
2. Select Reviewer Index to navigate back to the main Reviews page.

For any additional information or questions, please contact your Project Manager.