Delegate a Review to a Sub-Reviewer

If you're unable to complete a review, you can invite a sub-reviewer to handle it on your behalf. The sub-reviewer goes through the same assignment workflow as any other reviewer — they see it under Awaiting Response on their Reviews page, accept it, and write the review.

Prerequisites

• You must have accepted the review assignment
• The track must have sub-reviewers enabled
• You can only invite one sub-reviewer per assignment
• Sub-reviewers cannot invite further sub-reviewers (one level only)

Invite a Sub-Reviewer

1. Click Reviews in the sidebar
2. If you haven't accepted yet, Accept the invitation on the Awaiting Response tab
3. On the To Review tab, click "Write Review" to open the review
4. On the review page, locate the purple Sub-Reviewer card and click "Invite Sub-Reviewer"

5. Enter the sub-reviewer's email address and an optional personal message
6. Click "Send Invitation"

The sub-reviewer will receive an email notification. They will also see the invitation under Awaiting Response on their Reviews page with a "Delegated by [your name]" badge — so they can find it even if the email goes to junk.

Track Your Delegation

After inviting, the invite card is replaced by a status card:

Cancel a Delegation

You can cancel the delegation before the sub-reviewer starts writing their review:

1. On the Reviews page, find the delegated review and click "Manage"
2. Click "Cancel" on the status card
3. Your assignment returns to Accepted status — you can write the review yourself or invite someone else

On the sub-reviewer's side, the assignment shows as Cancelled (not Declined) with a note that it was cancelled by the delegating reviewer — no action is needed from them, and it never counts as them having declined.

You can also re-invite the same person later: sending them a new invitation reactivates the cancelled assignment and they receive a fresh email to accept or decline.

View the Sub-Review

Once you delegate, the Reviews page shows the delegation status on the review's phase row:

• A "Delegated to [name]" badge
• A "Manage" button linking to the assignment page (before the sub-review is submitted)
• A "View Sub-Review" button to view the completed review (after submission)

The review page shows a read-only view with the sub-reviewer's scores and comments. You cannot edit the sub-review — only the sub-reviewer can update it.

Sub-Reviewer's Experience

When you're invited as a sub-reviewer, the experience is identical to a regular review assignment:

1. You receive an email titled "Sub-Review Delegation" with the paper details and who delegated it
2. The invitation appears under Awaiting Response on your Reviews page with a "Delegated by [name]" badge

3. Accept or Decline the assignment as usual
4. If you accept, click "Write Review" and complete the review form
5. The review page and edit page show a notice: "This review was delegated to you by [name]"
6. Submit the review — the original reviewer will be notified

If the delegating reviewer cancels the invitation before you start writing, the assignment moves to your Declined tab labeled "Cancelled by the delegating reviewer" — nothing is required from you, and it is not recorded as a decline on your part.

Important Notes

• You cannot invite yourself as a sub-reviewer
• Sub-reviewers are marked with a "Sub-reviewer" badge visible to track chairs
• The original reviewer is still responsible for ensuring the review is completed on time — track chairs contact the original reviewer, not the sub-reviewer, for reminders