Make Decisions on Submissions

The Reviews & Decisions page is where track chairs review submission progress and make acceptance decisions. Navigate to your track management page and click "Reviews & Decisions" under Review Management.

The page shows:

• Statistics cards — Total Submissions, In Review, Ready for Decision, and Decisions Made
• Filters — Filter by status and sort order, with a phase selector to switch between phases
• Submission list — Each row shows title, authors, date, review progress, and decision badge
• Action buttons — "Phase Transitions" and "Notify" in the top-right header area

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Review & Decide on a Submission

1. On the Reviews & Decisions page, click "Reviews & Decision" on the submission row
2. This opens the combined reviews and decision page — reviews are on the left, and the decision form is in the right sidebar

3. Read through the reviewer scores, comments, and confidential notes on the left
4. In the Decision sidebar on the right, select a decision from the dropdown:

5. Optionally add Notes to explain the reasoning
6. Optionally check "Notify authors of this decision" to email all authors immediately after saving
7. Click "Save Decision"

If you check the notify option, PaperFox sends the decision email to all authors on the paper after the decision is saved, and shows a confirmation toast with the number of authors notified.

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When Authors See Reviews

PaperFox holds completed reviews back from authors until you record a decision. A reviewer submitting their review does not release it to the author — only saving a decision does. This gives you time to collect all reviews, weigh them together, and communicate the outcome alongside the feedback rather than drip-feeding authors one review at a time.

The rules are simple:

• Single-phase track — Authors see no reviews until you record any decision on the submission. Once saved, all completed reviews appear together.
• Multi-phase track — The gate is per phase. Recording a decision in Phase 1 releases Phase 1 reviews only; Phase 2 reviews stay hidden until you record a Phase 2 decision. This lets you run a second review round privately before sharing it with authors.
• Management views are never gated — Track chairs, conference chairs, senior editors, associate editors, and the reviewers themselves always see completed reviews on the Reviews & Decisions page as soon as they come in. The gate only applies to the author-facing /submissions/{slug}/reviews page.

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Change a Decision

If a decision has already been made, the sidebar shows the current decision with a "Change Decision" dropdown pre-filled with the existing value.

1. Select a new decision from the Change Decision dropdown
2. Update the notes if needed
3. Click "Update Decision"

To clear a decision entirely, select "Clear Decision" from the dropdown.

The previous decision is preserved in the decision history, visible in the sidebar's collapsible History section. Each decision entry shows which phase it was made in (e.g., "Initial Submission", "Camera Ready").

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Review Summary

The right sidebar also includes a Review Summary card showing:

• Completed and Pending review counts
• Average Score and Average Confidence across all submitted reviews
• A View Submission link to see the full paper details

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Multi-Phase Reviews

For tracks with multiple phases, the reviews page shows additional context:

• Phase badge on each review — Each review card shows which phase it belongs to (e.g., "Initial Submission" or "Camera Ready"), so you can distinguish reviews from different rounds
• Phase context banner — When navigating from the Decisions page with a specific phase selected, a banner at the top shows which phase you're viewing in context of
• Back navigation preserves phase — Clicking "Back to Decisions" returns you to the same phase you came from

The Reviews & Decisions page always shows reviews from all phases — it does not filter them. The phase badges help you identify which round each review is from.

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Bulk Decisions

When most submissions should receive the same decision, use bulk decisions to apply a decision to multiple submissions at once, then adjust individually as needed.

The bulk action toolbar is always visible at the top of the submission list, with a Select all checkbox, a Bulk decision dropdown, and an Apply button.

Apply a Bulk Decision

1. Select submissions using the individual checkboxes, or click the Select all checkbox to select all submissions on the current page
2. Choose a decision from the Bulk decision dropdown
3. Optionally add decision notes in the textarea that appears — these notes are applied to all selected submissions
4. Click "Apply"

If any selected submissions already have a decision, a confirmation dialog appears showing a summary of which decisions will be overwritten. Click "Apply to All" to proceed or "Cancel" to go back.

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Notify Authors of Decisions

After making decisions, click "Notify" on the Reviews & Decisions page to open the notification composer pre-configured for your track's authors. See Send Notifications for details.