Send back, hold or delete

Send back without review

Use this for work that is outside the scope of your call, that is missing what the call asks for, or that belongs somewhere else.

• The control is under Reviews on the submission.
• A reason is required. The authors read it exactly as you write it. It is all they have to go on.
• It is not a rejection. No decision is recorded. The submission becomes a draft in the authors’ account again, with its tracking code and files, and they can fix it and send it again.
• Only before anybody has reviewed it. Once a review is in, the honest answer is a decision.
• Not for a revision that came back. That answers what you asked for, and is answered with a decision.
• Reviewers already asked are told. They come off the submission, and are thanked.

A full paper written from an accepted abstract

When the authors of an accepted abstract or poster send the full paper, it arrives on the board under Converted to full papers. If it is not ready to be reviewed, for example it is unfinished, has no references, or is not what the abstract promised, you can send it back without review in the same way, from the same place.

What	What happens
The accepted abstract or poster	Stays accepted. It stays in the book of abstracts and the programme as it is.
Reviews and the decision on the abstract	Not touched.
The full paper	Opens for the authors again, with your reason at the top. It is due as before, and returns to Awaiting full paper on the board.
Reviewers asked to read the full paper	Told there is nothing more to do, and taken off it. The reviewers of the abstract are not told anything.
The record	No decision is recorded. It is not a rejection.

The authors can change what you raised and send the full paper again, or go back to the accepted version and leave it there.

This is offered until somebody has reviewed the full paper. After that, record a decision. If the full paper is not accepted, the submission goes back to the accepted abstract.

To end a full paper that the authors have not sent yet, open its page and stop the full paper there: the submission goes back to the accepted abstract.

Put it on hold

Under If something is wrong, Put it on hold pauses a submission while something is settled, such as a question about who its authors are.

It is not a rejection and leaves no mark. Reviewing and messages carry on. Only deciding and publishing wait. An accepted submission on hold is also kept out of the book of abstracts until the hold is lifted, and the book’s page lists it.

The same work sent more than once

The board marks submissions that are the same work by the same authors, and names the others. Usually one of these is true:

Case	What to do
An abstract was accepted and the authors started a new submission for the full paper.	Ask them to turn the accepted abstract into the full paper, and to withdraw or discard the new one.
The same work was sent as a talk and as a poster.	Decide which you accept, and tell the authors.
A draft was started twice by mistake.	Nothing. A draft that was never sent does not reach you.

Use Message the authors to ask which copy stands.

An author asks to withdraw

When authors ask to withdraw accepted work, the board shows it under Asked to withdraw. Answer it on the submission. Withdrawn work leaves the programme and the book of abstracts.

Delete

Deleting submitted work removes it and everything attached to it, and it cannot be undone.

• A draft that was never sent belongs to its authors. They discard it themselves.
• Submitted work: when a conference or journal has more than one editor, a second editor must approve the deletion before it happens. The request waits, with who asked and why, until another editor approves or refuses it.
• Published work is not deleted. It can be retracted, and its page then says so.

Prefer a decision, a return or a withdrawal to a deletion. They keep the record.