The VS Review™ Submission and Peer-Review System is a web-based, fully hosted service. VS Review™ is composed of three modules: the submitter module, reviewer module, and client administrator module. The information below will provide additional detail about the features and capabilities of each of the modules. For more detailed information than what is available on this page, please see the resources page to download more detailed information.

The Submission Module is the "front-end" of the system where end-users will submit documents. The module consists of two components – the submissions list page and the submission page.

Information and functionality on the submissions list page include:

• Instructions on how to use the system
• Submission guidelines particular to the current abstract submission competition
• Summary information for each submission (ID number, title, author list, date last edited)
• Access to contact information edit page
• Capability to view a PDF™ preview of the abstract using Adobe Acrobat reader.

The submission page is where the user inputs and edits the abstract for submission. The Information and functionality on the submission page include:

• Submission guidelines
• Submission length checking and validation
• Validated data entry to ensure that all mandatory information is entered
• Standardized abstract text entry system helps to ensure that standard fonts/symbols are utilized to facilitate easier transfer of abstracts to print-based media (i.e., journals, compendia, etc).
• Optional ability to upload image files for charts/graphs

Reviewers are assigned by client administrators (i.e., event organizers) to review and grade submissions based on criteria designated by the client. Review criteria are customizable and flexible – one generic reviewer criteria can be used to grade all submissions, or criteria can be modified slightly for each submission type to capture differences in the types of studies or investigations being completed.

When a submission selected to be reviewed, the review page is displayed. The review page displays the content of the submission as well as the appropriate review criteria. The review criteria are in “radio button” format, allowing the reviewer to easily assign the appropriate score based on the presented criteria. All presentations of the submission content are blinded – no information about the author or the originating site are revealed. Reviewers can re-score submissions as many times as necessary prior to the review deadline.

Using VS Review, the abstract submission and review process is administrated through a comprehensive suite of built-in tools. With this suite a VS Review administrator can manage the entire submission and review process from beginning to end. The administration tools are described below.

Submissions Management
The submissions management module is used to track and process all incoming submissions. Key functionality of this module includes:
• Submission tracking – list, sort, and filter all incoming submissions. The submissions list can be sorted / filtered by many parameters, including sequentially by submission date or submission ID, alphabetically by author name or abstract title, or numerically by reviewers’ scores.
• Reviewer assignment – allows administrators to assign reviewers to submitted abstracts ensuring that reviewers are not placed in positions of conflict
• Status assignment – administrators can assign a status (accept/reject) based on the tallied reviewers’ scores for each abstract
• Time slot assignment – the designated presentation time slot (date, time, location) can be assigned to accepted submissions

User Management
The user management module is used to manage all users of the system – both submitters and administrators. The list of users can be sorted and filtered by various parameters including status (reviewer, submitter), and last name. User information can be quickly looked up in the event someone has forgotten their password or login ID (username).

A built-in email system allows quick and efficient bulk emailing to users in the system. Built-in groupings consist of: all users, all submitters, registered submitters with abstracts, registered and submitters without abstracts. A convenient email history retains all previously sent messages.

Reporting / Data Exporting
The VS Review administration tools include detailed statistics about the submission process – including submissions to date, number of submitters, abstract breakdown by category, abstract breakdown by submission type, and various other parameters. (Custom report development is available upon request).

One of the key features is the submission export function. This function permits the administrator to export submissions in a format for transfer to print media, such as a journal or conference proceedings. The submissions export function allows the user to define the order in which abstract data is exported (i.e., submission ID, title, author list, abstract text), the format (i.e., bold, italics, regular), and the order and groupings in which abstracts are exported.