Submission + Camera-Ready Workflow
Complete guide for track chairs to set up and manage a two-phase submission workflow with initial review and camera-ready collection
This guide walks you through setting up a typical two-phase workflow: Initial Submission followed by Camera Ready collection for accepted papers.
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 paper moves to that phase.
What This Means for Track Chairs
- Close submissions after the deadline - This prevents new papers from being submitted, but existing papers can still be updated
- Authors update, not resubmit - Accepted authors edit their existing submission to upload camera-ready files
- Full audit trail - You can view any previous version of a submission at any time
- No duplicate paper 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, Paper 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.
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:
- Navigate to your track's Settings → Phases
- Click "Add Phase"
- Name it
Camera Readyand 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 paper 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.
Separate Camera-Ready PDF field, or reuse the original Submission File?
Whether to add a dedicated Camera-Ready PDF field (above) or just let authors replace the original Submission File is a meaningful design choice — it changes where the original PDF lives and what's protected. See Camera-Ready — How to Handle the File for the two patterns side by side and when to pick each.
Step 3: Run the Review Process (Phase 1)
With your phases configured, proceed with the standard review workflow:
- Open submissions and collect papers
- Close submissions after the deadline (prevents new papers but allows updates)
- Invite reviewers and assign submissions
- Collect reviews and monitor progress
Step 4: Make Decisions
Once reviews are complete, make acceptance decisions from the Decisions page:
- Go to your track's Decisions page
- For each submission, click "Reviews & Decision"
- Read through the reviews on the left, then choose a decision in the right sidebar:
- Accept: Paper accepted for publication
- Conditional Accept: Accepted with minor conditions
- Major Revision: Significant changes required
- Minor Revision: Small changes required
- Reject: Paper not accepted
- Desk Reject: Rejected without review
- Optionally check "Notify authors of this decision" to email authors immediately
See Make Decisions for full details.
Step 5: Move Papers to Camera Ready Phase
After making decisions, use Phase Transitions to move papers in bulk:
- Go to the Reviews & Decisions page for your track
- Click "Phase Transitions" button in the top-right
- Select target phase: "Camera Ready"
- Filter by decision types (Accept, Conditional Accept are pre-selected)
- Review the count of papers to be moved
- Click Continue → Confirm
Papers are moved to Phase 2. Authors will now see the Camera Ready form fields when editing their submission.
Decisions are per-phase
Moving a paper to Phase 2 returns it to under review for the new phase — its Phase 1 decision is not carried forward. On the paper's decision timeline the Phase 1 decision stays recorded (e.g., "Submission · Accept"), while Phase 2 reads "Awaiting decision" until you make a Camera Ready decision (or leave it as-is if your venue doesn't record a second verdict). This keeps each phase's outcome distinct and stops a prior decision from masquerading as the current one.
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 paper:
- Go to Review Assignments — now that papers are in your second phase, the page opens there automatically (the phase selector is available if you need to switch back)
- Click "Copy Reviewers" — every paper gets pending assignments for its own previous-phase reviewers in one action
- 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 papers are in each phase, how many have been revised, and how many are still awaiting revision.
Decisions Page — Once papers 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:
- Author Updated (green) — the author has submitted their updated version
- Chair Updated (blue) — a chair edited the paper on the author's behalf, but the author hasn't submitted anything themselves
- No Update (amber) — nobody has updated the paper in this phase yet
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 Author Updated, Chair Updated, or No Update papers.
Submission Detail — The Submission Status sidebar card shows the current phase name and revision status for quick reference.
Key Points to Remember
| Aspect | How It Works |
|---|---|
| New submissions after deadline | Blocked when submissions are closed |
| Updates to existing submissions | Always allowed (creates new version) |
| Version history | Full audit trail preserved |
| Phase-specific fields | Configure in Submission Forms |
| Moving between phases | Bulk action from Decisions page via Phase Transitions |
| Reviews in Phase 2 | Optional - use Copy Reviewers to carry Phase 1 reviewers over |
| Revision tracking | "Author Updated" / "Chair Updated" / "No Update" badges on Decisions and Submissions pages |
| Phase overview | Track dashboard shows per-phase submission counts with revision status |
| Decision history | Each decision records which phase it was made in |
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 publish state and the track's visibility settings, just as before (see Publish Decisions & Reviews to Authors).
Q: What if an author accidentally submits a new paper instead of updating? A: Close submissions after the initial deadline to prevent this. When submissions are closed, authors can only update existing papers, not create new ones.
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 paper's Phase 1 reviewers in one action.
Q: Can Phase 1 reviewers see the revised (Phase 2) version of a paper? A: Only if you assign them in Phase 2. Reviewer visibility is phase-scoped: an assignment only ever shows the paper 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 papers 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 papers by mistake, you can undo the move while the new phase is still untouched. For genuine rework, act in the paper's current phase instead. See Configure Track Phases.