1 How the platform works
A paper moves through a fixed set of states. Knowing them makes the rest of this guide obvious.
| Status shown to authors | What it means | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Submitted | The manuscript and its anonymised copy are uploaded, but no reviewer has been linked to the paper yet. | Author (on submit) |
| Under Review | At least one reviewer is assigned — or a revised file is waiting for a re-review round. | Platform, when the first reviewer is assigned |
| Revision Required | You asked the author for changes. The paper is locked for decisions until a new file arrives. | You, in Review Decisions |
| Accepted | Final positive outcome — the author can then upload the camera-ready file. | You, in Review Decisions |
| Rejected | Final negative outcome; the author receives the decision by e-mail. | You, in Review Decisions |
You never have to move a paper manually. Assigning the first reviewer, uploading a revised file and saving a decision all change the status for you, and the matching e-mails go out automatically.
2 Create your conference
Two gates before you can start: activate your organizer account, then walk through the six-step wizard.
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Submit the conference request
Sign in and open your Organizer Dashboard. The Create Conference button stays disabled until you send your event details — use Submit Conference Request and fill in the form.
Once the request is submitted your account is activated and Create Conference becomes available.
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Run the 6-step wizard
The wizard is a guided form — you can move back and forth with Next / Previous until you press the final button.
| Step | You configure |
|---|---|
| 1 · Conference Info | Title, acronym, conference type (Academic Conference / Seminar / Workshop / Symposium), description, theme, organisation, contact details — and the optional Registration Fee Verification switch for payment-proof uploads. |
| 2 · Organizer Info | Organisation, faculty or department, organizer name, contact e-mail and phone. Use an inbox that is actively monitored: authors, reviewers and participants all see it. |
| 3 · Website | Logo and banner for the public conference page, plus the welcome text. Use high-resolution images — the logo appears throughout the site. |
| 4 · Important Dates | Submission opening date, submission deadline, review deadline, notification date, camera-ready deadline, registration deadline and the conference dates. See section 4 — these dates really are enforced. |
| 5 · Submission Settings | Submission types offered to authors (e.g. Full Paper, Abstract, Poster, Workshop Proposal), the review model (Double Blind / Single Blind / Open Review) and the number of reviewers required per paper. |
| 6 · Research Tracks | Topic areas authors pick when submitting; you later use them to route papers to the right reviewers. |
After Create Conference the conference appears on your dashboard with its own workspace. A confirmation e-mail containing the conference URL is sent to your registered address (check the Spam / Junk folder). You can share that URL with authors, reviewers and participants — or find it again under Dashboard → My Conferences → View.
3 Conference settings & workspace
Opening a conference shows the conference workspace. Everything you manage lives in the left sidebar.
Conference Settings
Edit every value created by the wizard: dates, tracks, submission types, review model, number of reviewers, logo and banner — and, at the bottom of the page, Upload Poster (optional, published on the public page).
Submissions
Every paper with its files, track, authors, review progress and status. When fee verification is enabled you can verify or reject payment proofs here.
Reviewers & Chairs
Invite reviewers and chair managers by e-mail of an existing registered user, review their assignments, and remove access again if needed.
Participants · Reports & Stats
Registered authors with their submissions and decisions, plus analytics: acceptance rate, reviewer workload, submission velocity, breakdowns by track/type/status and full registries.
4 Dates & the submission window
Dates are not decoration — the platform enforces them and locks editing when the window opens.
Authors can only submit inside the window
The submission form refuses anything sent before the opening date. The author sees a precise message such as:
“Please fix the following issues: Submissions for this conference open on 15 Oct 2026.”
The same rule applies to the deadline: after the last day of the window (23:59:59 of the deadline date) the form closes.
Editing locks once the opening date arrives
As soon as today is on or after the submission opening date, conference settings become read-only. You will see “Conference Editing Locked: The submission opening date has passed.” and the save button is disabled. This protects papers that have already been received — but it also means a wrong opening date cannot be corrected from the interface.
Other dates you configure
- Submission deadline — last day authors may upload a manuscript.
- Review deadline — target date for reviewers to finish.
- Notification / revision date — when authors hear the outcome and start revisions.
- Camera-ready deadline — last day for the final accepted file.
- Registration deadline & conference dates — shown on the public page and in the dashboard calendar.
5 Run the peer review
Four pages carry the whole process: Submissions → Assign Reviewers → My Reviews (reviewer side) → Review Decisions.
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Assign reviewers —
/assign-reviewersOpen the module and switch between Assigned and Unassigned papers. The header shows how many papers still need a reviewer. Press Assign, pick one or more reviewers from the list, done.
- The paper's status changes to Under Review with the first assignment.
- The reviewer receives an assignment e-mail immediately.
- The platform refuses to assign the paper's own author as its reviewer.
- You can remove an assignment at any time; the unassigned counter updates at once.
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The reviewer works in My Reviews
The reviewer opens the paper, reads the anonymised manuscript and submits a review with a score from 1–10, a recommendation (Accept / Minor Revision / Major Revision / Reject), comments shared with the authors and a confidential note to the chair. A comment of at least 20 characters is required.
- The review is stored as a round (Round 1, Round 2, …) — rounds are created automatically, there is no setting to configure.
- The assignment is marked completed and the chair is notified by e-mail.
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Read the evidence —
/review-decisionsMetrics across the top: total papers, reviewed papers, awaiting decision and final decisions. Use the search box or the status tabs, then open a paper to read every review — reviewer, round, recommendation, score, comments to the author and the confidential notes for the chair.
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Save the decision
Three outcomes: Accept, Revision Required, Reject, plus an optional note to the author. See the next section for the rule that blocks premature decisions.
6 Decisions, e-mails and the re-review loop
The decision form refuses to save a verdict on a paper that nobody has reviewed yet.
Rule: “At least one completed review is required before making a decision.” If no review exists yet the buttons stay disabled and the server answers with that exact message.
What happens when you choose Revision Required
- The paper's status becomes Revision Required and the author is e-mailed your note.
- Every assigned reviewer is e-mailed that a revision was requested and that a re-review round will open once the new file arrives.
- The author uploads the revised manuscript from their submission page (a new version appears — v2, v3, …).
- The status automatically returns to Under Review and the reviewers are e-mailed again that the file is waiting.
- In My Reviews the reviewer now sees the badge Re-review Requested, the action button Re-review and, inside the paper, Submit Re-review (Round 2).
- The reviewer submits the next round; you decide again — repeat until Accept or Reject.
E-mails sent by the platform
| Trigger | Recipient | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Reviewer assigned | Reviewer | Assignment notice with a link to My Reviews |
| Review submitted | Organizer / chair | A new evaluation is waiting |
| Decision saved | Author | Outcome plus your note to the author |
| Decision = Revision Required | Assigned reviewers | Revision requested; a re-review round will open |
| Revised file uploaded | Assigned reviewers | New version available — please re-review |
7 File & access rules
Manuscripts are never served as plain public URLs — every download goes through a permission check.
Authors upload PDF only, and a paper needs two files: the full manuscript and an anonymised copy when the conference runs Double Blind. Track, originality and policy confirmations are mandatory before the form accepts the submission.
| Who | Full manuscript | Anonymised manuscript |
|---|---|---|
| Visitor (not signed in) | Redirected to the sign-in page | Redirected to the sign-in page |
| Author & co-authors | Download own files | Download own files |
| Organizer / chair | Download for every paper of this conference | Download for every paper of this conference |
| Reviewer | Denied (403) under Double Blind | Download allowed |
Direct folder links (/file_upload/, /uploads/,
/upload_payment/, /upload_poster/) answer 403 Forbidden.
Payment slips and manuscripts are only readable through the application after a permission check.
8 Roles & permissions
Three roles share the work; only the owner may change the conference itself.
Organizer (owner)
- Creates the conference and owns all configuration
- Sets and changes dates until the opening date arrives
- Manages participants, payment verification and reports
- Has access to every file of the conference
Chair Manager
May:
- View submissions and files
- Assign reviewers and monitor progress
- Make review decisions
- Process revisions and camera-ready uploads
May not:
- Modify conference settings or deadlines
- Change ownership or delete the conference
Reviewer
- Sees only papers assigned to them
- Submits one review per round: score, recommendation, comments
- Under Double Blind receives the anonymised file only
- Cannot see decisions, authors' identities or other reviewers
Adding a chair manager or reviewer
- Open Reviewers & Chairs inside the conference.
- Enter the e-mail address of an existing registered user — the person must already have a Censula account.
- Confirm the assignment; the user receives a notification e-mail with the access details.
- The role appears in the list and can be revoked at any time.
All conference configuration stays with the Organizer. Chairs help with the editorial workflow only.
9 Payment, poster & reports
Registration fee verification
Enable Registration Fee Verification in step 1 of the wizard if you charge a fee. Authors then upload a transfer slip or receipt from their submission page, and you approve or reject it in Submissions — rejected slips show your reason.
Conference poster (optional)
Scroll to the bottom of Conference Settings → Upload Poster (JPG, PNG, WEBP, GIF up to 5 MB). Once uploaded it is published on the public conference page; you can replace or delete it at any time.
Camera-ready files
After an Accept decision the author uploads the camera-ready PDF from My Submissions. The file is kept separately from the reviewed versions, so earlier rounds stay intact.
Reports & Stats
Acceptance rate, submissions by status / paper type / track, submission velocity, final-decision breakdown, reviewer workload, top-rated submissions, plus registries of all papers, authors and accepted works.
10 Launch checklist
Run through this list before the submission window opens — after that, settings lock.
| # | Do this | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verify title, acronym, contact e-mail and public logo/banner | Conference Settings |
| 2 | Check the submission opening date twice — it cannot be edited once it has arrived | Conference Settings → dates |
| 3 | Choose submission types, review model and number of reviewers | Step 5 of the wizard / Settings |
| 4 | Add research tracks authors can pick from | Step 6 of the wizard / Settings |
| 5 | Invite reviewers and chair managers by e-mail | Reviewers & Chairs |
| 6 | Enable fee verification only if you actually charge a fee | Step 1 of the wizard |
| 7 | Share the conference URL with authors | Dashboard → My Conferences → View |
| 8 | As papers arrive, assign reviewers promptly — status becomes Under Review | Assign Reviewers |
| 9 | Wait for at least one completed review before deciding | Review Decisions |
| 10 | Use Revision Required for fixes, then review the new round | Review Decisions → My Reviews |
Important notes
- Organizers are responsible for all conference content and management activity.
- Review conference information carefully before publishing it — after the opening date it is locked.
- Conferences that violate the Platform Terms of Service or Platform Policy may be suspended or removed.
- The platform is a management tool and does not take part in editorial decisions.
Need help?
Check the FAQ, the Author Guide, the Reviewer Guide or contact support — we usually reply within one business day.