Configure Reviewer Consultation (Discussion Forum for Reviewers)

Reviewers who have completed a review for a submission may participate in a discussion forum created just for Reviewers and Editors associated with the submission. These discussions are called Reviewer Consultations. (Unlike discussions for Editors, only one Reviewer Consultation may be opened per submission.)

Most of the handling of this discussion type is automated to reduce the workload of Editors. The automated functionality of the Reviewer Consultation is as follows:

• The discussion forum is opened when the first Editor for a new submission (Revision 0) is either assigned or agrees to handle a submission.
• All Editors and Reviewers assigned to the submission for all versions/revisions are added to the discussion.
• The discussion remains open through all revisions unless an Editor with permission to manage discussions closes it. (Editors with the RoleManager permission, Initiate and Manage Discussions, may manage a Reviewer Consultation discussion.)
• The discussion is concluded automatically when the Final Disposition is set for the submission.

Reviewer participation

Any Reviewer who agrees to submit a review for a submission is automatically added to the Reviewer Consultation discussion as an inactive participant. The Reviewer's participation status remains inactive until s/he has completed and submitted a review. An inactive participant does not receive notifications of new comments in the discussion.

Once a Reviewer has completed and submitted a review, s/he becomes an active participant in the Reviewer Consultation discussion and retains active participation status throughout the lifespan of the submission in the EM workflow. Reviewers who are unassigned/terminated from later revisions, or not invited for subsequent revisions, continue to be included (and can participate) in the discussion.

Editors with permission to manage discussions may not change an individual Reviewer's status from Active to Inactive. The only way to inactivate a Reviewer participant is to conclude the discussion manually and then to reopen the Reviewer Consultation. In the new Reviewer Consultation, the Editor may choose the Reviewers to be designated as active participants in the discussion.

Editor participation

Editors with permission to manage discussions may invite other Editors (even ones who are not attached to the submission in any way) to the Reviewer Consultation discussion. Outside Reviewers (not attached to the submission) may not be added to the discussion.

An Editor who is unassigned or replaced in the Editor Chain remains an active participant in the Reviewer Consultation discussion.

The Editor's view of the Reviewer Consultation discussion page displays two grids, one listing Editor participants and the other Reviewer participants. The Editor participant grid contains actions (submission visibility, participant status, Editor Role, ad hoc email).

The Reviewer Status grid shows a summary of each Reviewer's status for the submission.

Editors with permission to manage discussions may:

• Add Editor participants (using the Add Participants button on the Discussion page).
• Manually conclude the discussion (using the Conclude Discussion button) at any time during the life of the submission.
• Reopen a concluded discussion (using the Reopen Discussion button). At this point the Editor can add Reviewers to the discussion who may have completed Reviews while the discussion was closed. When reopening a discussion, an Editor may convert a Reviewer's participant status from Inactive to Active by checking the box next to the Reviewer's name in the Reviewer Participants grid.

Deep links

The deep linking merge field, %REVIEWER_DISCUSSION_DEEP_LINK%, may be used in the letter sent to Reviewers after completing a review (Reviewer Thank You). Clicking the deep link logs the Reviewer into EM fully and goes directly to the Completed Assignments folder. If the Reviewer Consultation discussion has not been concluded for the submission, the Discussion page automatically opens in a pop-up window. If the discussion has been concluded, the Reviewer may access the closed discussion using the Discussions link.

As with the Editor discussions, active participants may receive notifications about new posts that have been contributed to a discussion. The %DISCUSSION_POST% merge field may be used in Discussion Forum letter family notifications sent to Reviewers.

To Configure:

Configurations include permissions for Editor and Reviewer roles, discussion template configurations, and letter configurations.

To grant Editors permission to manage discussions (add Editor participants, conclude discussions), go to RoleManager > Editor Role. Grant permissions to the applicable Editor roles:

1. Initiate and Manage Discussions
   1. My discussions only
   2. All discussions

To set visibility of Reviewer identities, go to RoleManager > Reviewer Role. Grant permissions to the applicable Reviewer roles:

• View Reviews with All Identities Visible (for Open Peer Review): Allows user to see other Reviewers identified by name and reviewer number. (When this permission is not enabled, user sees other Reviewers identified by reviewer number only.)
• View Comments with All Identities Visible: Allows user to see other Reviewers identified by name and reviewer number on the View Reviews and Comments pop-up window. (When this permission is not enabled, user sees other Reviewers identified by reviewer number only.)

Configure letters related to Reviewer Consultation discussions for Editors and Reviewers. Letters may request the Editor/Reviewer's participation in the discussion.

• Editor letters should use the merge field, deep link %DISCUSSION_DEEP_LINK%.
• Reviewer letters should use the merge field, %REVIEWER_DISCUSSION_DEEP_LINK%.

Letters may also be created to notify the Editor/Reviewer when a new comment is posted to the discussion. Use the Discussion Forum letter family.

Available merge fields:

• %DISCUSSION_POST% inserts the most recent comments posted in the discussion topic for which the letter is sent. For use in letters to Reviewers and Editors.
• %INITIAL_DISCUSSION_POST% inserts the comments posted in the Initial Comments box for the discussion topic for which the letter is sent. For use in letters to Editors.
• %ALL_DISCUSSION_POSTS% inserts all posts associated with the current discussion thread. For use in letters to Editors.
• %DISCUSSION_PARTICPANTS% inserts a list of all participants associated with the current discussion thread. For use in letters to Editors.

For details on letter configuration, see Create Letters.

To configure discussion template, go to PolicyManager > Discussion Forums > Configure Discussion Topic Templates.

On the Configure Discussion Topic Templates page, click the Add button to create a new template (or click the Edit link next to an existing template).

The Add Discussion Topic Template page includes these settings for Reviewer Consultations:

Discussion Topic Template Type: Use the drop-down menu to select Reviewer Consultation.

Discussion Topic Template Name: Enter a name for the template.

Topic: Enter a topic for the discussion.

Initial Comments: Enter any comments/information/guidelines to be presented to participants at the opening of the discussion.

Default Editor Participant Permissions: Check the box next to the permission(s) to grant.

• View Reviews and Comments
• Download Files (source and companion)
• View Draft Decision Letter

Editor Access to "Details" Link: Check the box to enable Editors to access the submission Details page from Discussion pages. Use the drop-down list to select the Details page layout that will appear.

Editor Discussion Letters:

1. Use the drop-down list to select the letter to send when requesting Editor participation.
2. Use the drop-down list to select the letter to send to notify Editors when comments are posted, and use the radio button to define which Editor(s) should receive the letter:
   1. Notify discussion initiator only
   2. Notify all active Editor participants

Reviewer Discussion Letters:

• Use the drop-down list to select the letter to send when requesting Reviewer participation.
• Use the drop-down list to select the letter to send to notify Reviewers when comments are posted.

Hide: Check this box to make the template unavailable for future use. (Deactivated templates appear grayed-out on the main Configure Discussion Topic Templates page.)

When finished, click Submit.

After the Reviewer Consultation template has been created, associate the template with applicable Article Types. Go to PolicyManager > Discussion Forums > Configure Automatic Discussion Initiation.

The Configure Automatic Discussion Initiation page lists all configured Article Types (in the left column). Use the settings in the right column to enable Reviewer Consultation for any applicable Article Types:

• Check the box to launch the discussion automatically.
• Use the drop-down list to select the topic template to be used.

When finished, click Submit.

Additional configuration can be made in PolicyManager > Discussion Forums > Configure Discussion Forum Settings.

In the Custom Instructions section, use the text boxes to enter any special instructions to appear on the Discussion page. Use the first box to enter instructions for Editors. Use the second box to enter instructions for Reviewers.

In the Deep Link Expirations section, use the checkboxes to define when discussion deep links (%DISCUSSION_DEEP_LINK% and %REVIEWER_DISCUSSION_DEEP_LINK%) expire. In the first two options, enter the desired number:

• Expire link after [X] clicks
• Expire link after [X] days
• Expire when discussion is concluded

In the Discussion Indicators section, check the box to enable the use of discussion badges to show users when new comments have been posted to discussions.

When finished, click Submit.

 

 

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