Automated Management for Promoting Alternate Reviewers

The process of promoting alternate Reviewers can be automated. An Editor and/or publication staff must select alternate Reviewers while assigning or inviting primary Reviewers. An alternate Reviewer will be promoted automatically to take the place of a Reviewer who declines to do the review, who is unassigned (either automatically or manually), or if the invitation to review expires (see below).

When this process is enabled, Editors and publication staff do not have to intervene whenever a Reviewer either declines the invitation or is non-responsive.

An alternate Reviewer is automatically promoted to Reviewer status when an opening is created under one of four conditions:

Reviewer-initiated opening/no linked alternate: If a Reviewer declines an invitation, an alternate Reviewer (with the same Reviewer role) is automatically promoted as a replacement.
Reviewer-initiated opening/linked alternate: If a Reviewer declines an invitation and an alternate Reviewer (with any Reviewer role) has been linked to the primary Reviewer, the linked alternate Reviewer is automatically promoted as a replacement.
Time-initiated opening: If the Reviewer does not respond to the invitation within a specific number of days (as defined by the publication), or the Reviewer does not submit the review within a specific number of days after the due date (as defined by the publication), the Reviewer is automatically uninvited/unassigned, and an alternate Reviewer (either an alternate with the same Reviewer role or a linked Reviewer if there is one) is automatically promoted as a replacement. (The automatic uninvite/unassign and promotion takes place between midnight and 4am, US Eastern time.)
Editor-initiated opening: An Editor/publication staff (with applicable RoleManager permission) manually uninvites/unassigns a Reviewer, using the Uninvite or Unassign link on the Reviewer Selection Summary page. If there is a linked alternate Reviewer, that Reviewer is automatically promoted as a replacement. If there is no linked alternate, the first alternate Reviewer in the queue with the same Reviewer role as the Reviewer to be replaced is automatically promoted as a replacement.

Automatic promotion relies on the setting of Reviewer invitation deadlines and Reviewer due dates. By identifying the number of days that a Reviewer has to respond to an invitation, or the number of days after a due date the Reviewer has to submit a review, the system will automatically uninvite or unassign Reviewers who do not respond within the defined time.

For automatic uninviting/unassigning and promoting of Reviewers, a nightly batch process (between midnight and 4 a.m., US Eastern time) sends email notifications to uninvite/unassign Reviewers who did not respond in time and to promote alternates to Reviewer status. The batch process sends the default Uninvite or Unassign Reviewer letter to non-responsive Reviewers, notifying them that their services are no longer needed. The batch process also sends to the promoted alternate Reviewer the invitation letter that was selected and/or customized when the alternate Reviewer was initially chosen.

To configure:

Editor roles must be granted permissions related to the use of alternate Reviewers.

Go to RoleManager > Editor Role. Select the appropriate Editor role and click Edit. On the Edit Role Definition page, go to the Reviewer Invitations section, check the box next to the appropriate permission(s) and click Submit.

Select Alternate Reviewers: Allows the Editor role to access the alternate Reviewer selection pages and select alternates. (If not checked, the option to select alternate Reviewers does not appear on Reviewer Selection Summary pages.)
Promote Alternate Reviewers: Allows the Editor role to promote alternate Reviewers manually. (If not checked, the option to promote alternates manually does not appear on Reviewer Selection Summary pages. Alternates may promoted automatically if Number of Days Reviewer has to Respond to Invitation setting is a number other than 0 (see Edit Article Types below).)
Link/Unlink Alternate Reviewers: Allows the Editor role to link alternate Reviewers to primary Reviewers. (If unchecked, the option to link/unlink does not appear on Reviewer Selection Summary pages, and alternates cannot be linked to primary Reviewers.)
Remove Alternate Reviewers: Allows the Editor role to remove alternate Reviewers from the list of selected alternates. (If unchecked, the option to remove alternates does not appear on Reviewer Selection Summary pages.)

It may also be useful for this same Editor role to have the following permissions enabled:

Invite Reviewers
Uninvite Reviewers (If not checked, options to uninvite/unassign Reviewers do not appear on Reviewer Selection Summary pages.)
Assign Reviewers
Override Reviewer Due Date

To use the automatic option for promoting Reviewers, define a time limit for uninviting and/or unassigning Reviewers. These are configured by Article Type. See Configure Reviewer Parameters.

The letters sent during the batch process to notify Reviewers who are automatically uninvited or unassigned are the same as those configured for manual notification. They are associated with the ActionManager events:

Uninvite Reviewers before Agreeing to Review
Unassign Reviewers after Agreeing to Review

A letter should also be configured for the ActionManager event, Promote Alternate Reviewers. This should be the same invitation letter as for Reviewers initially invited/selected as alternates.

For details on Reviewer invitations, see Allow Editors to Invite, Assign, and Propose Reviewers.

Letters may also be configured to send to an Editor role, for notification that a Reviewer was uninvited, unassigned, or promoted.