Active denotes when a particular phase is “live” in the ConfTool system. If a phase is not active (deactivated), the functions that rely on that phase cannot be performed. 

Assignment: The process by which contributions are matched and “assigned” to the (most) appropriate reviewers.

Author / Co-Author: Someone who submits a contribution to ConfTool. The Author is the submitting person, Co-Authors can be identified by matching e-mail addresses.

Bidding (Phase): In ConfTool Pro reviewers can participate in a bidding process. Here they may select the contributions they would like or would not like to review (based on their personel area of expertise). The chairs will try to consider these "biddings" during the assignment of submissions to reviewers. Furthermore, reviewers can indicate potential conflicts of interests. 

Conflict of Interest (CoI): If a reviewer was involved in the research of a conference submission or knows the authors very well, his objectivity is usually limited. In this case he should state a conflict of interest and not review the according submission.

Conference Administrator: Someone who can manage every aspect of of ConfTool, including ConfTool Settings, User and Participant Management, Manage Submissions, and Reviews, Conference Program Scheduling, Bulk Emails, and Data Import and Export. The administrator is usually also one of the Conference Organizers.

Chair: A person in charge for the submission and review process of a conference. Usually he acquires several reviewers who read and evaluate the submissions. Based on the reviews the chair(s) decide about acceptance and rejections of the submissions.

Conference Assistant (Assist): An administrative user with access to all users, participants and all payment details. Conference Assistants do not have access to the submissions or reviews. They also cannot access the settings of ConfTool.

Conference Chair (ConfChair): An administrative user with access to all users, all submissions and all reviews. Conference Chairs do not have access to financial details of the participant registration module and cannot access the main settings.

Conference Organizer: Someone whom participants contact for more information about a conference. The Conference Organizer and his e-mail contact details are identified in the Main Setup page, which is available from the Settings page.

Conference Track:  A specific field of study for a conference.  Examples of Conference Tracks for a Scientific Conference may include “Biology: Revolutionary Evolution,” “Physiology of Bipedal Mammals,” and “Developing Applications of Research Technology.”  Administrative users may create Conference Tracks that are specific to their conference.  Conference contributors can view and select the Conference Tracks for a conference.

Conference Topic: A specific area of expertise or study within a conference.   Reviewers are associated with conference topics based on reviewers’ fields of study. Reviewers will only receive submissions that are most relevant to them. 

Contribution: See submission

File Type: A specific file format for which submissions will be accepted in ConfTool. For example, users may submit MS Word files (with a .doc or .docx extension), Acrobat Portable Document files (with a .pdf extension), or Images (with a .gif or .jpg extension). The default file types are defined in the Main Setup page, which may be accessed from the Settings page. In the Pro version arbitrary file types can be defined for each upload category.

Front Desk / Registration / Student Volunteer (SV): Someone who performs conference registration tasks but has no access to the submitted contributions and only limited access to financial/payment details.

Participant: Someone who has has registered for conference participation. 

Program Committee (PC): A group that is responsible for the conference, its program, and its panels.  

Registration (Phase):  The phase of a conference in which users can create accounts (i.e. Registration of New ConfTool Users) and register for conference activities (i.e. Registration for Conference Participation).

Review: The process by which Conference Committee members assess a submission and determine whether to accept that submission for the conference.

Reviewing (Phase):  The conference phase in which Conference Committee review and rate conference submissions.

Reviewer / Expert: Someone who can view, accept, or reject submissions to a conference. 

Server Time: The system clock of the server on which ConfTool is hosted. In the Pro version a different time zone can be set for any conference event and the according deadlines will apply. The server clock may be adjusted on the Main Setup page, which may be accessed from the Settings page.

Session Overview: An abstract or short description for a conference session.

Submission (Phase):  The conference phase in which users can upload contributions to be considered for the conference.

Submission/Contribution/Proposal: Any file (paper, poster, or supplemental file) that a participant submits to Conference Committee for acceptance in the conference.