Two-phase review process: How to review abstracts and full papers?

We do have a call for abstracts first, do a double-blind review of all abstracts and then ask the authors of accepted abstracts to submit their full papers. Later the full papers will also be reviewed in a double-blind peer review process. Only submissions are accepted that pass both reviews. Finally authors can upload their final version (which is not peer reviewed again).
 
How can we handle this procedure with ConfTool Pro?
 
(A German version of this article is available.)

If you have several independent peer review phases for your submission process, it is advisable to create one submission type for each phase. The accepted abstracts are then copied into the second submission type, where they go through the second review round:
 

Phase	Submission type	What happens
Phase 1	Abstracts	Authors submit their abstracts; first double-blind review; acceptance status "Accepted Abstract"
Phase 2	Full Papers	Accepted abstracts are copied into this type; authors upload their full papers; second double-blind review; acceptance status "Accepted Full Paper"
Optional	Full Papers	Final upload (camera-ready copy), not reviewed again

Preparation
 

• Create one submission type per phase.
  Overview => Settings => Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
  Create the submission types "Abstracts" and "Full Papers". Please keep the settings for the options "Abstract", "Extra Check Box?" and "Extra Text Field?" the same for all tracks in order to avoid inconsistencies.
• Create the acceptance statuses you will need.
  Overview => Settings => Manage Acceptance Status
  Click on the status "Accepted", then on the button "Copy as New Acceptance Status" and name the new status "Accepted Abstract". You can create the status for the second phase (e.g. "Accepted Full Paper: This full paper has been accepted") in the same way, either now or later.

Phase 1: Abstracts
 

• Enable submission for abstracts only.
  Overview => Settings => Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
  Disable the submission type "Full Papers" in the section "Alternative Deadlines of This Type / Track" via the option "Submission Enabled?" (see image 1).
• Collect and review the abstracts.
  Ask your authors to submit their abstracts, assign the abstracts to the reviewers, and decide about acceptance once the reviewing process has been completed.

Transition: Converting the Accepted Abstracts
 

Important: The accepted abstracts are copied into the second submission type by us. Please contact us once you have decided about the acceptance of the abstracts - and please inform us in good time, so that we can prepare the conversion before your full paper phase starts.

If you need to copy single papers later on, please have a look at Two-phase reviewing process: How to convert late abstract submissions to full papers manually.
 

• Disable the submission type "Abstracts".
  Overview => Settings => Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
  Disable "Abstracts" (only "Abstracts"!) in the section "Alternative Deadlines of This Type / Track" via the option "Submission Enabled?" (see image 1).

Phase 2: Full Papers
 

• Open the upload phase for full papers.
  Overview => Settings => Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
  Activate the submission type "Full Papers", but keep the submission phase itself closed, so that authors cannot create new submissions but can only upload new files (see image 2). To do so:
  - For the option "Alternative Submission Deadline for New Contributions", choose the setting "Disable new submissions for this submission type / track".
  - Set an "Alternative Deadline for Uploads (Full Paper Submissions)".
• Optional: allow authors to update their submission details.
  Overview => Settings => Main Settings for Paper and Abstract Submission
  Turn on the Expert Settings toggle in the lower navigation bar (it is labeled "Expert Settings Disabled" until activated). You will then find a new section "General Settings for Upload Form (Upload Updates)", in which you can activate several options, e.g. allow authors to enter or edit the abstract, or to edit authors and organizations.
• Inform your authors.
  Send a bulk e-mail about the outcome of the abstract reviewing process and about the next steps and deadlines. The authors can now use the link "Upload File(s)" to submit their full paper (see image 3).
• Review the full papers and decide about acceptance.
  After the upload deadline for "Full Papers" has expired, assign new reviewers, contact them, and decide about the acceptance of the full papers once all reviews are in. Use the acceptance status you created in the preparation phase (e.g. "Accepted Full Paper").

Optional: Final Upload (Camera-Ready Copy)
 
You can also use a "final upload" for the full papers. This allows authors to upload new files in which the feedback of the reviewers is taken into account.
 
Overview => Settings => Manage Submission Types / Conference Tracks
 
Scroll down to the section "Settings for Final Uploads" and set the option "Number of Files to Be Uploaded for the Final Version per Contribution" to the required number of final uploads.
 

Please note: Only authors of accepted contributions are allowed to do a final upload, and the final upload phase has to be activated in "Conference Phases and Deadlines".

You can find more information on this topic here: Final upload - how to keep same paper ID for final version.