Decisions

Purpose

The Decisions tab is where you record the outcome for each paper and notify its authors. You pick a decision per paper, then — on the Full tier — approve it and release it to authors in a deliberate two-step flow. A companion Pending Revisions view tracks papers you accepted conditionally so you can see when their revised versions come in.

On the Full tier (DIRECT review mode) the tab also surfaces review-driven aids — the average review score and the area-chair recommendation — next to each paper to help you decide. On the Light and Standard tiers the same tab runs in a simpler basic mode: fewer decision types, no review scores, and a single record-and-notify step.

When you use it

• At the end of review, to record accept, reject, or other outcomes for every paper.
• To set explicit requirements and a deadline for a conditional accept.
• To release approved decisions to authors and trigger their notification emails — either one paper at a time or in bulk.
• To watch for and open the revised PDFs from conditionally accepted papers.

Walkthrough

Record and release a decision (Full tier)

1. 1

   Open the Program Chair Console, select your program, and open the Decisions tab. The All Decisions view loads first.

2. 2

   Use the count badges (All, Pending, Decided, Accepted, Rejected, Approved, Released) and the search box to focus the list. The Score and AC Rec columns show the average review score and the area chair's recommendation to inform your call.

3. 3

   In a paper's Decision column, pick an outcome from the dropdown — for example Accept, Conditional Accept, Reject, Desk Reject, Transfer to Workshop, or one of the downgrade options.

4. 4

   If you choose Conditional Accept, fill the requirements modal: set the Revision Deadline (it cannot be in the past) and the Required Changes text. The email preview updates as you type. Save with Set Conditional Accept.

5. 5

   Apply the decision with the row's Apply button, or apply everything at once with Apply X Decisions at the top right. Applied decisions move to Approved status but are not yet visible to authors.

6. 6

   When you are ready to notify authors, click Release on a row, or Release X Approved at the top to send them all. Confirm in the Release Decisions dialog. Releasing flips the paper's status, emails the authors, and locks the decision.

Record a decision on the Light or Standard tier

1. 1

   Open the Decisions tab. In basic mode the Score and AC Rec columns are hidden and the decision dropdown offers Accept, Reject, and Desk Reject.

2. 2

   Pick an outcome, then click Decide & Notify on the row and confirm in the Send Decision to Author dialog. This records the decision and emails the author in a single step — there is no separate release.

Track conditional-accept revisions

1. 1

   Switch to the Pending Revisions view. Its badge shows how many revisions are awaiting your review.

2. 2

   Filter by All, Awaiting Review, Approved, or Needs Changes, or search by title, paper number, or author. A past revision deadline shows in red.

3. 3

   Use Review to open the paper at its review page, download the revised PDF when one is attached, and Refresh to reload the list.

Tips