Table of Contents
1. Preparation and General Questions
2. Overview of the Submission Process
3. Survey of the Configuration Options
3.1. Main Parameters
3.2. Topics and Topic Groups
3.3. Submission Types / Conference Tracks
Configuration of the Submission Module
The key component of a successful conference is the quality of the presentations. To ensure a smooth submission and review process with the best possible evaluation and selection of new ideas, it is important that the corresponding ConfTool module is configured as closely as possible to the requirements of the conference organizers. This guide will help you to understand this process.
There are many different ways to receive proposals, to have them evaluated by different groups of experts and to create the printed proceedings. This guide therefore starts with a list of questions you should think about in order to specify your requirements as precisely as possible. It then introduces the steps of a submission from the author's point of view, to explain the structure of the system, and finally provides an overview of the most important options and features of the submission module.
Looking for worked examples?
Several typical scenarios and configurations are illustrated here: Examples for the Configuration of the Submission and Reviewing Functions. Please note that all options and settings are also described online on the settings pages of the system itself. There and in the online forum you will find further hints, also for less frequently required options.
1. Preparation and General Questions about the Requirements
One of the key components of ConfTool Pro is the module for submitting and reviewing abstracts and papers. It allows authors to submit their ideas in different digital formats, reviewers to enter their evaluations online, and organizers to create a conference agenda and export data for the conference proceedings.
A "typical" workflow is as follows: within a given time frame, users can submit different kinds of proposals (e.g. abstracts, posters or full papers) as defined by the conference organizers. The submitted abstracts and uploaded files are then usually assigned to experts for peer reviewing. Chairs or members of the program committee decide about acceptance based on the review results. Accepted submissions can be revised, and final versions can be uploaded by the authors. Finally, the organizers create the conference agenda from the accepted submissions and export them for the conference proceedings. Many other workflows are possible, depending on the kind, scientific field and size of the event.
As this short description shows, the submission process is closely connected to the review process, to the creation of the conference agenda and to the proceedings (book of abstracts). Before you start setting up ConfTool, you should have finalized your general plans and time schedule for these tasks.
Some questions that determine the configuration are:
- Think about the time frame and the deadlines of your conference for the submission and review process, as well as for the creation of the conference agenda and the proceedings. It is always advisable to plan time buffers of 2–3 weeks in case some authors, reviewers or organizers cannot meet their deadlines.
- What kind of submission types do you need? Does your conference have different types of submissions, e.g. poster, full paper, workshop proposal? Please make sure that you set up the required submission types in the ConfTool system.
- How many submission and review phases does your conference have? Do the chairs decide about acceptance directly? Is one peer-reviewing phase enough, or will authors of accepted abstracts be invited to submit full papers that have to be reviewed again in a second phase?
- Will authors of accepted contributions get the chance to upload camera-ready copies for the conference proceedings? You can save yourself a lot of work by preparing good templates and asking authors to upload their files in different formats – for example as a PDF file to show what the document should look like, and as a Word file so that you can edit the document and add headers or page numbers if necessary.
- What are the main conference topics? A sensible selection of topics can facilitate review assignments significantly.
- How and when will the members of the program committee and the reviewers be selected and invited? You can import lists of persons directly as ConfTool users if they are already established members of the program committee, or you can import them as invitees if you want them to confirm their interest first.
- Do you require online communication options for reviewers or PC members? Do you have meta-reviewers (expert reviewers) supervising the review process of selected papers? ConfTool supports several different models, but you should decide on one early.
- How will the final decision regarding acceptance be made, and by whom?
- What are the requirements for the conference flyers and the conference proceedings? It is useful to ask for all necessary data (names, organizations, e-mail addresses) in the ConfTool submission form, so that authors enter this data online and you do not have to collect it later from uploaded files.
- Does your conference have sub-events such as tracks, strands or workshops with separate reviewing committees? Then you will probably need the Track-Chair Module of ConfTool Pro (an additional license fee applies).
2. Overview of the Submission Process
The submission process in ConfTool consists of several steps, and many parameters of these steps can be configured by the conference organizers. Please also refer to the instructions for submitting authors.
- Every author begins by creating a personal user account. It allows them to use the ConfTool system, to update their submissions and to access the review results. Here, authors enter their personal contact information as well as the data for the user account. The same account is used if the person is also a reviewer or wants to register as a conference participant.
- Authors are then directed to the "Your Submissions" page, which lists the available submission types and conference tracks. The options and wording shown here are defined by the conference organizers at
Overview → Settings → Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
Each submission type or track can have different deadlines and requirements (see section 3.3). After selecting the preferred conference track or submission type, authors proceed with their submission.
- The first submission page asks authors to enter the general data (metadata) about their submission: a list of all authors and their organizations, as well as title, abstract and topics of the proposal. Some fields are mandatory (such as title or authors' names), others can be configured individually by the organizers.
- The second page shows the entered information for verification. Here, authors can also upload files to the server. The upload of files can be disabled or set as optional by the organizers. The supported file types and the required number of files (0 to 3) are defined separately for each submission type or conference track.
After upload and confirmation of the entered data, the author returns to the "Your Submissions" page and sees all proposals already submitted, followed by the list of all submission types and conference tracks. The author can now submit another proposal, update existing proposals or withdraw them. Authors can access this page at any time once they have logged in. Later, the page also gives them access to the review results and allows them to upload their final versions, if this option has been activated by the organizers.
3. Survey of the Configuration Options
All parameters for setting up the submission and reviewing module can be accessed and edited from the "Settings" page. The following sections provide an overview of the most important options and concepts. You will find all relevant options for the submission module in the section "Conference Tracks, Submission Types and Topics".
Some options only appear after enabling the "Expert Settings".
Several of the options described below are hidden by default, as they are rarely required. Options and sections that are affected are marked with Expert Settingsin this guide. If you cannot find such a setting on the page, please activate the "Expert Settings" at the bottom of the corresponding page first.
3.1. Main Parameters
We start with the page "Main Settings for Abstract and Paper Submission". You can probably keep the default settings for most of these parameters, especially if you are not familiar with the options described here. The following subsections follow the order of the sections on that page.
Display Options for the Page "Your Submissions"
Enter the information you want to pass on to the authors on their "Your Submissions" page as introductory and footer texts. Please keep these texts short for usability reasons and refer to a page on your main website if you want to provide more detailed information about the submission process, templates and required formats. If you enable the option "Expand Info Text of Each Track", you can limit the initially displayed information text for each submission type or track to 80, 160 or 320 characters; by clicking on an icon, the display can be expanded to show the whole text.
Form Settings for all Submissions
This section defines which fields appear on the submission form for all submission types.
If you activate the option "Enable ORCID for Each Author", a field for the ORCID iD is added for each author. ORCID iDs are intended to facilitate the unique electronic attribution of publications and other research activities to researchers. With "Enable Title Selection for Authors", a selection box for the academic title (Prof., Dr., no title) can be enabled for each author; the title then also appears in the conference agenda.
Expert SettingsThe option "Method to Prepopulate the Data of the First Author" determines which data of the submitting user is entered into the author fields automatically, which saves authors typing work. With "Text Template for Field 'Abstract'" you can provide a structure that authors find prefilled in the abstract field – useful if you expect a specific structure, for example background, method and results. Please contact us if you need a submission form with several abstract fields.
Expert SettingsYou can "Enable Topic Groups" to create several categories or types of topics; each topic is then assigned to a topic group (see section 3.2).
Expert SettingsThe options "Enable Discussant", "Presenter Status for Discussants" and "Extra Page for Discussants" let you collect a discussant for each contribution and decide whether that person counts as a presenter.
Furthermore, you can show or hide the field "Remark/Message from the Authors to the Programme Committee and Chairs" to the submission form. You can also enable an input field for an external resource with the setting "Add Field for 'External Resource'?". The content of this field appears below the abstract in the ConfTool conference agenda. A separate option, "Add Field 'External Resource for App'?", provides a second link field intended for use in a mobile conference app.
Title and Author Validation
The ConfTool system can run automatic tests on all submissions. If you activate the option "Test Case of Authors", the upper and lower case of all author names is checked (this also applies to sub-papers of symposium submissions). "Test Format of Title" checks the upper and lower case of the titles of all submissions.
Expert SettingsThe option "Test Length of Title" warns authors if a title exceeds the length you define. These tests affect all submission types and conference tracks.
Expert SettingsWith "Enable Rich Text Editor for Title" authors can apply simple formatting within the title, for example italics for species names or mathematical expressions.
Enable Selection of the "Submission Format" Expert Settings
In case your conference has separate tracks, networks or workshops, you can enable the selection of the submission format to use submission types and conference tracks to define different sub-events. Authors are then able to first choose a track and, within this track, decide on a submission format such as full paper, symposium or poster.
You can choose between two settings. With "Yes", the submission form settings of each submission format are the same as for the conference track; you can decide for each track whether authors may select one or several submission formats. With "Yes, and allow to specify submission form parameters for each submission format" you can define different submission form settings for each submission format, which then override the conference track settings. Consequently, authors can only choose one submission format per submission when this setting is used. For more information, see the forum: How to split thematic tracks into different submission formats.
Once you have activated the selection of the submission format, a new menu "Manage Submission Formats" appears:
Overview → Settings → Manage Submission Formats
Here you can create and edit formats such as "abstract", "poster" and "oral presentation". Please note that you also have to enable submission formats for each submission type or conference track for which they are required (see section 3.3). If you use the Track-Chair Module, you can additionally enable the assignment of submission formats to tracks on the page "Assign Formats to Conference Tracks".
Enable Selection of the "Presentation Mode" Expert Settings
With the presentation mode you can ask authors about their preferred form of presentation: online, on site or, if applicable, no participation at all. This can be an important piece of information especially for a hybrid event, where some participants attend on site and others join online.
You can select from three settings. "No" means the presentation mode is not enabled (default). With "Yes", an additional section asking for the presentation mode appears on the submission form. With "Yes, and enable an extra page and phase to allow authors to select their presentation mode separately", the presentation mode appears on a separate page for each submission. This is helpful if you want a separate phase for this question, or if you decide to ask for the presentation mode only after the submission phase is over. More information: Define a presentation mode for submissions.
Once activated, a new menu appears:
Overview → Settings → Manage Presentation Modes
Here you create and update modes such as "online", "on site" or "will not attend". Afterwards, please adjust the settings for each submission type individually at
Overview → Settings → Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
Keywords Settings Expert Settings
Here you define the "Minimum Number of Keywords" and the "Maximum Number of Keywords" that authors may enter. With "Enable the List of Keywords" you can offer authors the keywords already used for other submissions, which keeps the vocabulary consistent and avoids near-duplicates such as singular and plural forms. Whether the keyword field is shown at all is decided per submission type (see section 3.3).
Settings for Symposium Form Class Expert Settings
The form class "Symposium" is designed for submissions in which one main topic is presented and supported by several smaller contributions covering different aspects of this topic, written by several authors. During the submission process, the submitting author designates all symposium paper authors (sub-authors), enters their ideas and can also nominate a chair and/or a discussant for the symposium.
In this section you can define a minimum and maximum number of discussants as well as a minimum and maximum number of sub-papers for the symposium form. If you need an abstract field for each sub-paper, please activate the option "Abstract Field for Sub-Papers"; you can also define the "Maximum Length for Abstracts of Sub-Papers". More information about submission form classes: Submission forms: Detailed, Symposium, Application, Roundtable.
General Settings for Upload Form (Upload Updates) Expert Settings
When authors return to their submission in order to upload or update files, they see a reduced form. This section determines which fields of the original submission form remain editable at that point – for example "Edit Authors and Organisations", "Enter or Edit the Abstract", "Enter or Edit Topics", as well as the fields for submission format, presentation mode, keywords, student contribution, the extra check box, the extra text field and the remark to the program committee.
Decide deliberately what may still change.
Allowing authors to edit their metadata during the upload phase saves you corrections later. Locking the fields, on the other hand, keeps the data stable once reviewing has started. Choose according to the phase in which the upload takes place.
General Settings for Final Upload Form Expert Settings
The same principle applies to the final upload of accepted contributions (camera-ready copies). In addition to the fields listed above, you can enable "Enable Field 'Title of Contribution'", "Enable Field 'Short CV of Presenting Author'", "Enable Field 'Bibliography'" and "Enable Field 'External Resource'" for this form. This is the point at which the data for the conference agenda and the proceedings is finalized, so it is usually worth collecting anything still missing here.
With "Enable Author Access to Final Upload Page for Tracks Without Final Upload File(s)" you can give authors access to the final upload page even for tracks in which no file has to be uploaded – useful if you only want them to complete or confirm their metadata.
Electronic Copyright Form
If you want authors to transfer the rights to use their intellectual property to you as the organizer, you can let them sign an electronic copyright form online. Authors can be asked to sign during the initial submission, on the first upload form, after the submission has been accepted, or during the final upload of accepted papers. For each of these options, authors can confirm the copyright terms either by ticking a check box or by entering their first and last name together with the current date. Please note: Besides this section, you also have to enable the module "Electronic Copyright Form" on the page "Conference Phases and Deadlines" and for each submission type or conference track on the page "Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks".
Special Conditions for Paper Submission
Here you can, for example, limit submissions to registered participants who have already paid, or restrict submissions to users who are already presenters. If necessary, you can also limit the total maximum number of submissions per author. Furthermore, you can grant co-authors full access to the submissions so that they can edit them as well – otherwise co-authors only have read access.
Copy Submission Option
If you enable this option, administrators, conference chairs or even authors can use existing submissions as templates to create another submission with the same or similar data (e.g. same authors, same title). You can also specify whether the title, the abstract and the uploaded files should be copied as well.
We recommend not copying title, abstract and files.
Copying them increases the risk of duplicate submissions of the same paper.
Options for the Track-Chair Module of ConfTool (Extra Module Required)
This section appears if your event is divided into several thematically different tracks and the Track-Chair Module has been installed for you (an extra fee applies).
Enable "Assign Submission Formats to Tracks" if the tracks of your event do not all offer the same submission formats – for example if authors can decide per track whether to submit a poster or a short paper:
Overview → Settings → Assign Formats to Conference Tracks
The option "Assign Topics to Tracks" is required if the tracks or submission types of your event do not share all topics. If you activate it, a new menu appears where each topic can (and has to) be assigned to a specific track or submission type:
Overview → Settings → Assign Topics to Conference Tracks
Display Options
Under "Display Options for Lists" you can set, for instance, the number of "Items per Page for Bidding/Assignment Pages". If you enable "Show Organization of Submitting Author", the organization or company of the submitting author is displayed in the submission overview and in the review result lists. This option is primarily useful for commercial conferences, where the authors' company details are of greater importance to the organizers.
In "Display Options for Contributions" you can define a "Display Format for Authors" to determine how authors' names are shown. If no presenting author has been selected from the list of authors for a contribution, the option "Default Presenting Author" defines who shall be marked as the presenting author.
Defaults for Uploads and Downloads
This section defines the scheme for generating the file names of uploaded files, the file name appendices in case of multiple uploads, the maximum size of an upload and the supported file types.
Choose from a wide range of options in "Compose Format of Generated Filenames". Your selected format is used for the generated format in the list of submissions (Overview → Submissions & Reviews → List of Submissions) and for the download links in the conference agenda, which you can make publicly accessible. Be diligent when setting these options; you can update them at any time.
The "File Appendix for Multiple Uploads" defines appendices for file names if more than one file is uploaded per submission. Please use only alphanumeric characters for file names and appendices, as some systems have problems with special characters. The setting "Supported File Types" specifies the file name extensions that will be allowed for uploads. These are the default settings; you may define different file types for each submission type or conference track, and if you do not enter specific file types there, these defaults are used.
BibTeX Export
With "Enable BibTeX Export" you can offer a BibTeX record for each contribution, which readers and authors can use directly in their reference management software. To produce valid entries, please also fill in the "Event / Book Title for BibTeX Export", the "Publisher for BibTeX Export" and the "Address for BibTeX Export", and select a "Default Entry Type" (for example inproceedings) that matches the way your contributions are published. Please note that the BibTeX export also has to be enabled in the "Main Settings for Conference Session Overview"
Conference Phases and Deadlines
Finally, set all necessary phases and deadlines for the submission of contributions, the editing of contribution details, file uploads, the publication of the review results and the final upload of accepted contributions. You can set alternative deadlines for each submission type or track, and you can update deadlines or disable a phase at any time by unchecking the box "Enable Module and Set Start and Ending Date".
Please note that you can access all deadlines of the conference at
Overview → Settings → Conference Phases and Deadlines
3.2. Topics and Topic Groups
A word regarding the use of topics in ConfTool: authors choose them to classify their submissions thematically, and reviewers use them to state their areas of expertise. Submissions are assigned to reviewers by matching topics. We therefore strongly recommend using topics for all conferences with a peer-review process, as they potentially increase the quality of the assignment and consequently of the reviews.
Usually, organizers define a set of topics and a maximum number of topics to be selected from this set. However, if you have different categories or groups of topics from which authors should select items independently, please go to
Overview → Settings → Main Settings for Abstract and Paper Submission
… enable the "Expert Settings" at the bottom of the page, and activate the option "Enable Topic Groups" in the section "Form Settings for all Submissions". You can then create several titles for different categories of topics and assign each of your topics to one of these groups. The maximum number of selectable topics can be set for each topic group separately.
To define the topic groups, please go to
Overview → Settings → Manage Topic Groups
Choose a "Short Title" (used for internal processes only) and a "Title" for each topic group. You might want to add an "Additional Info / Hint" that is shown to authors in the submission form above the list of topics. Within a topic group you can also define the number of topics that have to be selected by authors, and choose an assignment factor (weight) for review assignments. ConfTool Pro calculates the "weighted matches" between reviewers and submissions to identify the most suitable reviewers for each submission. Finally, decide whether the topics in this group should be displayed to reviewers and program committee members for topic selection.
Now continue by creating new topics at
Overview → Settings → Manage Topics
First assign each new topic to a "Topic Group", if applicable. Then select the "Style / Display Method of Topic":
- "Normal text option (checkbox, default)" generates the topic name with a checkbox next to it.
- "Bold text option (checkbox)" generates the topic name in bold letters with a checkbox next to it.
- "Heading option (not selectable by author)" displays the topic name as a heading for other topics, but does not allow authors to select it.
Finally, enter the "Topic Title", which is shown in front of a checkbox or serves as a heading.
3.3. Submission Types / Conference Tracks
The section "Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks" defines the structure of the page "Your Submissions" for the authors. Submission types and conference tracks are used for two different purposes in ConfTool:
- If you have different types of submissions – e.g. poster, full paper or symposium – and the decision about acceptance is made within one committee, you can use this function to create the submission types you need.
- If your conference is organized into thematic tracks, streams or workshops, you can use this function to represent the structure of your event. If these tracks have different program committees or chairs, the Track-Chair Module of ConfTool Pro is required. If you need to sub-categorize tracks into different submission types, you can either create additional tracks such as "Track 1: Submission Type A", "Track 1: Submission Type B", "Track 2: Submission Type A" and "Track 2: Submission Type B", or you can use the option "Enable Selection of the 'Submission Format'" at
Overview → Settings → Main Settings for Abstract and Paper Submission
With that option enabled, authors can pick a track as well as a submission format (see the forum for details).
The submission types and conference tracks are one of the main concepts of ConfTool and represent the thematic structure of your event. They are defined at
Overview → Settings → Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
Title and Basic Data
Start by creating a new submission type or track. Enter a full title, add "Contribution Details" and, optionally, the "E-Mail Address of Chair". This information is shown to the authors on the page "Your Submissions". The "Short Title" is used for internal system purposes, e.g. for generating file names; we recommend a unique and understandable abbreviation or ID.
Alternative Deadlines of This Type / Track
Here you can define alternative deadlines for each submission type or track in addition to the general deadlines configured on the page "Conference Phases and Deadlines". With "Show deadlines?" you can decide whether the deadlines are shown to authors and reviewers per type or track. The option "Submission Enabled" determines whether this submission type is selectable on the page "Your Submissions" for normal users, regardless of the currently enabled phase. The following parameters allow you to realize different deadlines for different submission types. You can also set an "Alternative Deadline for Final Upload (Camera-Ready Copy)".
Settings for the Submission Form of This Type or Track
By default, the "E-mail Addresses of All Co-authors" have to be entered by the submitting author. The reason is that ConfTool uses these e-mail addresses to identify users as co-authors, in order to give them access to their contributions as well as to invitation and confirmation letters. If you want to disable this option anyway, first activate the "Expert Settings" at the bottom of the page and select "No".
We also recommend asking for the "Organization(s)" of the authors in the submission form, so that this information can be used for the conference agenda and the proceedings. It is much easier to process data entered in the submission form than to extract it manually from uploaded files.
Regarding the "Presenting Author" you have several options. Choose "No" if you do not require this information for your conference agenda, or "Yes" if you want to identify the presenters. You can also allow submitting authors to select several presenters. Please note that, besides explicitly marked presenting authors, all submitting authors whose contributions have been accepted are automatically considered as potential presenting authors, as long as the presenting author does not have an account of their own.
For most conferences the "Abstract" is important, as it represents the key messages and main ideas of the submission. It can be used in the conference agenda or the book of abstracts, even if you ask authors to upload their contributions as files. The input field is enabled by default and offers two options: plain text without formatting, or the online rich text editor, which allows some formatting such as bold or italics as well as simple lists. If the "Expert Settings" are enabled, you can also permit LaTeX codes in the abstract field. Next, limit the length with the option "Maximum Length for Abstract" by selecting a maximum number of words or characters (including spaces). Please contact us if you need more than one input field for the abstract.
For each submission type you can activate different "Submission Formats". Authors are then able to first choose a thematic track and, within that track, a submission format such as full paper, symposium or poster. In most cases this option is more useful for organizers who have also installed the Track-Chair Module, but it can be helpful for other conferences as well. You can define the maximum number of formats that can be selected for this track and the "Location of Format Input Field" on the submission form.
If you have activated the selection of the "Presentation Mode" in the main settings, you can now configure it for each individual submission type. You have to enable the presentation modes for each submission type and can set the maximum number of selectable presentation modes in each case. The "Location of Presentation Mode(s) Input Field" can be either before or after the input fields for the authors. You can also choose to show this option only on the separate presentation mode update form, so that authors select their presentation mode separately – in that case the corresponding phase must be enabled as well at
Overview → Settings → Conference Phases and Deadlines
The option "Topics" can be used to require authors to select one or several topics. If you have enabled topic groups for your event, please select the default setting "Topic Groups: List topics as defined by their topic groups" here. If you select one of the other options, only topics that have not been assigned to any topic group will be displayed on the submission form.
Furthermore, you can ask users to enter "Keywords" as an option or a requirement, and allow them to signal that a submission is a "Student Contribution" written solely by students. In addition, authors may be asked to enter their "Bibliography"; this option can be made optional or mandatory, or it can be fully disabled.
In case you require further information, you can add an "Extra Check Box?" to be ticked voluntarily or obligatorily by the author – for example to confirm mandatory publication terms – and an "Extra Text Field?", e.g. to ask for the research method used.
If authors of this submission type have to transfer the rights to use their intellectual property to you as the organizer, please enable the check box in the section "Electronic Copyright Form". Please note that this option must first be activated on the page "Main Settings for Abstract and Paper Submission", and that if you have selected a separate page for the copyright form, the link to the form must also be enabled on the page "Conference Phases and Deadlines".
Upload Settings for This Submission Type / Track
For the option "Number of Uploads Required for This Submission Type per Submitted Contribution" you can select from zero (no uploads required) to three uploads. Selecting "0" disables the feature – in this case the option for the "Abstract" submission should be enabled.
It is useful to add some hints for authors via the option "User Information for File No. X", and to define the permitted file types with "File Extensions for File No. X". In the subsection "Download Settings", the option "Accessibility of File No. X" defines whether the uploaded file is accessible to users, reviewers and PC members. This setting is valid during the different phases of the conference: you can, for instance, make files available to reviewers during the review process and later also to normal users on the conference agenda page.
Expert Settings Once you have enabled the "Expert Settings", you can additionally choose the upload mode for files – uploads can be either mandatory (default) or optional – and the new subsection "Further Upload Settings" appears. Here you can specify the upload options for file no. X and allow only new uploads, allow only file updates, or close the upload slot altogether. This is useful if you want authors to upload selected files only, for example presentation files, without updating the original submission.
Settings for Final Uploads
Here you define the number of files required for the final version (camera-ready copy) of the submissions. The final upload phase usually follows the review process, and only authors with accepted submissions are allowed to upload a final version. In the subsection "File Types", enter the permitted file types for all relevant upload slots.
Expert Settings The three expert options "Final Upload Mode", "Accessibility of File No. X" and "Upload Options for File No. X" (see above) exist for final uploads as well.
Review Options
This section deals with review settings specific to the current submission type or conference track. The option "Enter and Edit Reviews" can be disabled for individual submission types, e.g. to allow invited speakers to upload their presentation without considering them for peer review.
In the subsection Double-Blind Reviews you can define whether the review process is double blind or single blind. When the double-blind review process is activated, reviewers cannot see the authors' names, nor can authors see the reviewers' names.
Expert Settings Activate the "Expert Settings" at the bottom of the page to see more options.
The option "Review Results" allows you to disable the display of the reviews to authors. If disabled, only the status of the result (e.g. "Rejected" or "Accepted") is shown, but not the details of the peer review. This option is enabled by default, so the results of the peer review (rating, comments of the reviewers to the authors) are accessible to the authors as soon as the corresponding phase is activated.
If "Bid for Contributions" is enabled, reviewers can indicate their preferred papers and possible conflicts of interest. The "Online Forum for the Program Committee" can also be enabled for each submission type individually; it allows users with the status "Program Committee Member" to access and discuss the corresponding submissions online.
You can enable and set "Alternative Deadlines for Different Review Options" for this submission type that differ from the general deadlines of the overall system. If necessary, you can define an earlier deadline for review submission, as well as different deadlines for meta-reviews or senior reviews, for the submission of rebuttals, for the submission of review ratings by authors, or for the publication of the review results.
Further Settings
The option "Class Name of Submission Form" gives you four possibilities to define the overall appearance of the submission form. Apart from the four standard forms, customized form classes can be developed on request.
- The default setting "Detailed" is sufficient for abstract, poster and full paper submissions of most conferences.
- "Applications" offers a simple form structure, for instance for applications for a scholarship or a summer school grant. The submitting person has only limited options here: one application including one author name, one organization, an abstract, and topics and keywords if enabled.
- "Symposium" is suitable if your conference is split into several symposia and authors submit an idea for a part of the conference, including suggested chairs and a number of symposium papers. Additional settings for this class are found in the "Main Settings for Abstract and Paper Submission".
- "Roundtable" can be used for proposals for panel discussions and similar formats, including information about the presenters or discussants as well as chairs or moderators.
More detailed information: Submission forms: Detailed, Symposium, Application, Roundtable.
The "Class Name of Review Form" selects the template for the review form and defines its overall appearance. Usually you can keep the default form "Default_Form" and make the further adjustments at
Overview → Settings → Review Form Options and Factors
You can find explanations of the other form classes here: Configuration of the Review Forms in ConfTool Pro.
Expert Settings The option "Comments for the Authors" allows you to make the respective field in the review form mandatory (default), optional, or to disable it entirely. The option "Alternative Review Forms" lets you customize the factors and language definitions for the review form of this submission type only – see Alternative labels, factors and/or weighting for review categories per submission type.
