Submission + Camera-Ready Workflow

This guide walks you through setting up a typical two-phase workflow: Initial Submission followed by Camera Ready collection for accepted submissions.

Understanding the Mental Model

Before diving into the setup, it's important to understand how PaperFox handles multi-phase workflows:

Key Concept: Submissions Are Versioned with Phases

You don't need new submissions for revisions or camera-ready uploads. Each submission in PaperFox maintains a complete version history with phase-specific fields:

• Version 0: Initial submission (Phase 1 fields)
• Version 1: First revision, e.g., camera-ready (Phase 2 fields become available)
• Version 2, 3, ...: Additional revisions if needed

When authors update their submission for camera-ready, they simply edit their existing submission. The system automatically creates a new version while preserving the complete audit trail. Each phase can have additional fields (like Camera-Ready PDF, Response to Reviews) that only appear when the submission moves to that phase.

What This Means for Track Chairs

1. Close submissions after the deadline - This prevents new submissions from being submitted, but existing submissions can still be updated
2. Authors update, not resubmit - Accepted authors edit their existing submission to upload camera-ready files
3. Full audit trail - You can view any previous version of a submission at any time
4. No duplicate submission IDs - The same submission ID (e.g., icai2027-42) is used throughout the entire workflow

Phases Control What Authors See

Phases control which form fields are visible to authors at each stage:

• Phase 1 (Submission): Shows fields like Title, Abstract, Authors, Submission PDF
• Phase 2 (Camera Ready): Shows additional fields like Camera-Ready PDF, Response to Reviews, Copyright Form

See Configure Track Phases and Configure Track-level Submission Forms for details.

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Step-by-Step Setup

Step 1: Create the Camera Ready Phase

By default, your track has one phase called "Submission". Add a second phase for camera-ready collection:

1. Navigate to your track's Settings → Phases
2. Click "Add Phase"
3. Name it Camera Ready and save

You should now see two phases: Submission (Phase 1) and Camera Ready (Phase 2). See Configure Track Phases for details.

Step 2: Add Camera Ready Form Fields

Add fields that will appear only in Phase 2. Common camera-ready fields include:

• Camera-Ready PDF (File Upload) - Final submission incorporating reviewer feedback
• Response to Reviews (Textarea) - How author addressed reviewer comments
• Copyright Agreement (Checkbox) - Copyright transfer confirmation

When adding each field, select "Camera Ready" as the Phase. See Configure Track-level Submission Forms for details.

Step 3: Run the Review Process (Phase 1)

With your phases configured, proceed with the standard review workflow:

1. Open submissions and collect submissions
2. Close submissions after the deadline (prevents new submissions but allows updates)
3. Invite reviewers and assign submissions
4. Collect reviews and monitor progress

Step 4: Make Decisions

Once reviews are complete, make acceptance decisions from the Decisions page:

1. Go to your track's Decisions page
2. For each submission, click "Reviews & Decision"
3. Read through the reviews on the left, then choose a decision in the right sidebar:
   • Accept: Submission accepted for publication
   • Conditional Accept: Accepted with minor conditions
   • Major Revision: Significant changes required
   • Minor Revision: Small changes required
   • Reject: Submission not accepted
   • Desk Reject: Rejected without review
4. Optionally check "Notify authors of this decision" to email authors immediately

See Make Decisions for full details.

Step 5: Move Submissions to Camera Ready Phase

After making decisions, use Phase Transitions to move submissions in bulk:

1. Go to the Reviews & Decisions page for your track
2. Click "Phase Transitions" button in the top-right
3. Select target phase: "Camera Ready"
4. Filter by decision types (Accept, Conditional Accept are pre-selected)
5. Review the count of submissions to be moved
6. Click Continue → Confirm

Submissions are moved to Phase 2. Authors will now see the Camera Ready form fields when editing their submission.

Step 5b: Re-Assign Reviewers (If Phase 2 Has Reviews)

If your second phase involves another round of reviews (common for a Revision phase; unusual for camera-ready collection), you'll want the same reviewers who already know each submission:

1. Go to Review Assignments — now that submissions are in your second phase, the page opens there automatically (the phase selector is available if you need to switch back)
2. Click "Copy Reviewers" — every submission gets pending assignments for its own previous-phase reviewers in one action
3. Click "Notify Reviewers" when you're ready to email them

See Manually Assign Reviewers for details, including the "Reviewed in [phase]" badges that mark previous-phase reviewers.

Step 6: Notify Authors

Send notifications to inform authors of decisions and next steps. Filter recipients by Decision: "Accepted" or Phase: "Camera Ready".

Key points to include in your acceptance notification:

• Congratulate authors on acceptance
• Explain how to update their submission (edit existing, don't create new)
• List the camera-ready fields they need to complete
• Emphasize that updating preserves their original version
• Include the deadline

See Send Notifications for details on composing and sending notifications.

Step 7: Monitor Camera Ready Submissions

Track progress of camera-ready uploads from multiple places:

Track Dashboard — The Submissions by Phase card shows a quick overview: how many submissions are in each phase, how many have been revised, and how many are still awaiting revision.

Decisions Page — Once submissions are in Camera Ready, the page opens to that phase by default (use the phase selector to look back at the Submission phase). Each submission shows a badge:

• Revised by author (green) — the author has submitted their updated version
• Edited by chair (blue) — a chair edited the submission on the author's behalf, but the author hasn't submitted anything themselves
• No revision yet (amber) — nobody has submitted a new version in this phase

Submissions Page — Use the Phase filter dropdown (appears for multi-phase tracks) to view only Camera Ready submissions. Each row shows the phase name badge and update status, and the status filter can isolate Revised by author, Edited by chair, or No revision yet submissions.

Submission Detail — The Submission Status sidebar card shows the current phase name and revision status for quick reference.

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Key Points to Remember

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can authors still see their reviews after I move them to Phase 2? A: Yes — all review information is preserved across the phase move. Whether authors can see it follows the phase's release state and the track's visibility settings, just as before (see Release Decisions & Reviews to Authors).

Q: What if an author accidentally submits a new submission instead of updating? A: Close submissions after the initial deadline to prevent this. When submissions are closed, authors can only update existing submissions, not create new ones.

Q: A reviewer submitted their Phase 2 review before the author revised. Is the author now locked out? A: No. Editing only locks once a version has been submitted for the current phase — the copy PaperFox carries forward at the phase move doesn't count, because it's the Phase 1 submission. So a reviewer who accepts (or even completes) an assignment early does not block the revision the phase is waiting for. Once the author submits, the submission freezes for the rest of the phase as usual. Full rules: Submission Edit Rules.

Q: Can I add more phases (e.g., Revision → Camera Ready)? A: Yes, you can add as many phases as needed. See Configure Track Phases.

Q: Do I need to set up reviewers for Phase 2? A: Not typically. Camera-ready collection usually doesn't require peer review. However, you can configure reviews for any phase if needed — use Copy Reviewers on the assignments page to re-assign each submission's Phase 1 reviewers in one action.

Q: Can Phase 1 reviewers see the revised (Phase 2) version of a submission? A: Only if you assign them in Phase 2. Reviewer visibility is phase-scoped: an assignment only ever shows the submission as it existed in that assignment's phase, so a reviewer assigned only in Phase 1 never sees later revisions. Copying a reviewer into Phase 2 gives them a new assignment that shows the revised version.

Q: Can I move submissions back to a previous phase? A: No — moves are forward-only, because each phase keeps a permanent record of its reviews and decisions. If you moved submissions by mistake, you can undo the move while the new phase is still untouched. For genuine rework, act in the submission's current phase instead. See Configure Track Phases.