Step 1: Go to the Submissions table
In your event dashboard, go to Submission > Submissions.
Select the submissions you wish to assign using the checkboxes.
Tip: Use filters to narrow down the list of submissions to a specific topic if you want to assign them to reviewers specialized in that topic.
Then click Assign reviewers.
The Assign reviewers window has three steps: Reviewers, Assignment method and Confirmation.
Step 2: Select reviewers
Choose the reviewers you’d like to assign to the selected submissions, then click Next.
Step 3: Choose the assignment method
Manual
Use this option when you want full control over which reviewers are assigned to which submissions.
All selected reviewers will be assigned to all selected submissions.
Automated
Use this option to quickly distribute the submissions among the selected reviewers.
Reviewers are assigned automatically until the target number of reviews per submission is reached.
The Review settings card shows the rules that apply to the method you selected:
Target: the number of reviews each submission should receive with the automated method.
Track matching: how the automated method pairs reviewers with submissions based on their tracks. This line only appears when your plan includes tracks management.
Workload limit: the maximum number of reviews a reviewer can be assigned, or Not limited. It applies to both methods, so it is the only rule shown for Manual: a reviewer who reached the limit is skipped.
These rules are configured once, in Peer review > Form > Settings, under Reviewer assignment. Click Edit in the card to open that page. See Customize reviews for the details of each setting.
In the example below, the Reviewer assignment section of the form settings targets 2 reviews per submission, limits each reviewer to 6 reviews and has Try to match selected.
Step 4: Notify reviewers (optional)
On the same step, Notify reviewers by email is checked by default. Keep it checked to notify reviewers right after assigning them, or uncheck it to notify them later.
The email will tell each reviewer how many submissions were assigned and include a link to access their reviews.
Tip: You can always notify reviewers later when all assignments are done.
To do so, go to Peer review > Reviews, select all reviews, and send a mass email to the reviewers.
Step 5: Confirm the assignment
Click Next. The Confirmation step tells you how many reviews will be assigned to how many reviewers, and warns you if some submissions can't be assigned because of existing assignments, conflicts of interest or the reviewer workload limit.
The number on the Confirmation step is the exact number of reviews that Save creates. With Manual, each selected reviewer gets each selected submission, up to their Workload limit. For example, with 100 submissions, 8 reviewers and a Workload limit of 50, the step shows 400 reviews.
Click Save to assign the submissions.
If a reviewer still can't see their assigned submissions, see Reviewers can't see their assigned submissions.
A submission or a reviewer can't be assigned
When you assign reviewers, Fourwaves skips these cases:
Withdrawn submission: a withdrawn submission is never assigned, and the Confirmation step doesn't count it. To assign it, reinstate it first, as Withdraw a submission as an organizer explains.
Existing assignment: a reviewer already assigned to a submission is not assigned to it again.
Conflict of interest: a reviewer is never assigned to a submission they submitted, or to a submission that lists them as an author. Fourwaves matches the author's email address with the reviewer's account.
Workload limit: a reviewer who reached the Workload limit gets no more submissions.
If nothing can be assigned, the Confirmation step shows Assignment error: "None of the selected submissions can be assigned due to existing assignments, conflicts, reviewer limits, or workload thresholds." Save stays disabled.
Split submissions evenly between reviewers
To give each submission to one reviewer only, use Automated, not Manual. Manual assigns all the selected reviewers to all the selected submissions.
Go to Peer review > Form > Settings.
Under Reviewer assignment, set Target reviews per submission to 1, then click Save changes.
Assign the submissions, and select Automated at the Assignment method step.
The automated method gives each submission to the reviewer with the fewest reviews, so all reviewers get about the same number.
Change or undo an assignment
Can I reassign a submission to other reviewers?
Assign reviewers only adds reviewers. It does not remove reviewers who are already assigned. If you select a submission and choose other reviewers, the new reviewers are added to the existing ones.
To replace a reviewer, delete the review first, then assign the submission again:
Go to Peer review > Reviews.
Search for the reviewer by name or email, or filter the table.
Note the Submission number of each review you want to remove. To keep a list, click Actions > Export as Excel.
Select the reviews you want to remove.
Click Delete.
Type DELETE to confirm, then click Delete.
Go to Submission > Submissions, select the submissions, and click Assign reviewers again.
Deleting a review does not delete the submission. It only removes that reviewer's assignment.
Fourwaves doesn't send an email to the reviewer when you delete a review. The submission no longer appears in the reviewer's list of reviews.
Warning: If the reviewer already completed the review, deleting it also removes that evaluation.
This is also how you undo a random assignment. Delete the reviews you don't want, then assign again.