| HELP AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |
| OVERVIEW OF THE PROSE REVIEW PROCESS |
| Where can I find an overview description of what PROSE does and how it works? |
| A general overview of the operation of PROSE is available in the form of a guided tour. A tutorial on the operation of PROSE from the perspective of the person in charge of the review process (the journal editor of conference chair) is available at http://www.prosemanager.co.uk/tutorial1.htm |
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| LOG-IN, PAPER SUBMISSION AND REVIEW FAQS |
| P1. I don't know my PROSE password or user id. What can I do to find them? |
| There are several methods:- - When you receive an email from PROSE it includes a link which you can follow to get your login details (both your user id and password) emailed to you. - You can also follow the Forgotten Password link on the PROSE login screen, to get your password. However, you will need to enter your User Id (which is the paper number if you are an author) and the email address you provided when you submitted the paper. - When you originally submitted a paper, or were added to the PROSE system, you were sent an email with your login details. Find this email! |
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| P2. What format must I use to submit my paper? Can I submit a draft paper in MS Word format? |
| Draft papers for review must be submitted in PDF format via the PROSE system. Authors of papers that have been accepted may need to provide editable files in MS Word or LaTeX. Please contact the editors of the journal, or organisers of the conference, you have submitted the paper to. |
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| P3. I have submitted a paper. How can I confirm that it has been received? |
| When a paper is submitted PROSE supplies the author with a User Id and Password on the screen during the submission process. These details are also supplied in an email which is automatically sent to the author by PROSE. The email confirms receipt of the paper. The author can also log in to PROSE to check that the paper is present, and to check progress. |
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| P4. I have submitted an incorrect version of my paper, or need to update it. How can I load a new version of my paper? |
| Once a paper has been submitted it is not possible to change it or to accept a revised version until after it has been reviewed. Authors are clearly warned of this condition when they submit their paper. When a paper is submitted it is sent to reviewers and it creates extra work if they have to look at a paper again because a revised version has been submitted. It is possible for authors to make minor changes to the paper *after* it has been reviewed, e.g. add authors or change affiliations. If it is *essential* to send a revised version, your conference or journal organisers may allow you to make a new submission, with a new paper number. It will then be necessary for them to delete the previous version. You must ask them before you do this. If the submission deadline is past it may not be possible. |
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| P5. How can I check progress of my paper through the review process? |
| Log in to the PROSE review system using the User Id and Password you were supplied with when you submitted the paper. You will be able to see the status of your paper there. |
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| P6. I have entered my PROSE login details, but I cannot log in. What could be wrong? |
| Possible Problem No 1 Have you used the 'lost password' facility to get you login details? Did you click on the 'lost password' link more than once? To use this facility you should only operate it once and then wait for your details to be sent by email. This might take some time. If you try to hurry things up by doing it again there is the possibility that PROSE might send you more than one new password. As each password is newly generated, and therefore different, how will you know which is the correct one? Only use the 'lost password' link once and wait for the email from PROSE. Possible Problem No 2 Do you have more than one PROSE login? If you have submitted more than one paper you will have different login details for each. If you are both an author and a reviewer, you will have different login details for each. If you have submitted to a journal and a conference, both of which use PROSE, you will have different logins for each. You need to ensure that you have a the correct password for the user id you are using, and the correct user id for the event. |
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| P7. I have logged in to PROSE but I cannot see the paper, review etc., that I expected. What is wrong? |
| 1. Have you submitted more than one paper? Each paper submitted to PROSE will have its own User Id and Password. Ensure you are using the login details for the paper you are trying to access. 2. Do you have multiple PROSE logins e.g. are you an Author and a Reviewer? You will have a different set of login details for each role you have e.g. one set of login details for each paper you have submitted and another set for your duties as Reviewer (possibly another set if you are a Track Chair, etc). Make sure you are using the correct login details. |
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| P8. I am involved in the organisation of a conference or journal that is using PROSE for paper submission and reviews. How do I find out how to use the PROSE system? |
| A tutorial on the use of PROSE is available ...here... |
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| P9. I am an author. Does PROSE tell me who is reviewing my paper? |
| No PROSE keeps the identity of reviewers secret from authors. |
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| P10. The status of my paper is 'Accepted Subject to Revision' - what happens next? |
| You need to revise the paper according to the reviewers comments, then upload a PDF copy of the revised paper, with any remarks you wish to make about the reviewers comments appended as a final page to the paper. At this point the status goes to 'Revised Paper Received Awaiting Decision'. If the revised paper, is accepted, the status goes to 'Accepted Awaiting Publication Files' and you must upload the final camera-ready paper (the publication files). See other FAQs for details of the publication files. |
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| P11. The status of my paper is 'Accepted Without Change' - what happens next? |
| This means that your paper has been accepted without the need for you to make any major changes. However, you are asked to check the paper one last time for typos and other errors, then upload a PDF copy of the final paper. At this point the status goes to 'Final Paper Received Awaiting Decision'. If the paper is finally accepted, the status goes to 'Accepted Awaiting Publication Files', and you will need to upload and editable final version of the paper (the publication files). See other FAQs for details of the publication files. |
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| P12. The status of my paper is 'Revised paper Received Awaiting Decision' - what happens next? |
| The paper is awaiting a decision from the conference or journal about whether the revised paper you have submitted is acceptable or not. At this point PROSE does not require you to take any further action, until the decision has been made. If the revised paper is accepted the status of the paper will go to "Accepted Awaiting Publication Files" and PROSE will send an email requesting the publication files (the editable version of the paper required for publication). Please also see FAQ P10. |
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| P14. The status of my paper is 'Final Paper Received Awaiting Decision' - what happens next? |
| The paper is awaiting a decision from the conference or journal about whether the latest version of the paper is acceptable (this should be a formality as the paper was originally 'Accepted Without Change'). PROSE does not require you to take any further action at this point. When the paper is accepted, the status will go to "Accepted Awaiting Publication Files" and PROSE will send you an email asking you to upload the editable version of the paper for publication (the publication files). Please also see FAQ P11. |
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| P15. The status of my paper is 'Accepted Awaiting Publication Files' - what happens next? |
| You need to upload an editable copy of the final paper (the publication files), exactly as it should appear in the proceedings, onto PROSE. See later FAQs for information about the publication files. |
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| P16. The Status of my paper is 'Accepted Publication Files Received' - what does this mean? |
| This means you have uploaded the publication files that make up the final paper to be included in the proceedings. You do not need to do anything more at this stage, but look out for any more emails you may receive from PROSE or the conference/journal organisers. Your paper will be checked and if any more files are needed you will receive an email containing instructions. Otherwise, you have finished. |
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| UPLOADING THE FINAL PAPER PUBLICATION FILES FAQS |
| F1. What is meant by 'Publication Files'? |
| The review process takes place using PDF copies of the submitted papers. When the review process is complete and a decision has been made that the paper may be published, it is necessary that the authors submit an editable version of the paper. This may be in MS Word, LaTeX or another format, depending on the requirements of the conference/journal. The files that make up the editable version of the paper are referred to as the Publication Files. When the review process is complete, PROSE will send an email to the authors asking them to upload the Publication Files. |
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| F2. My paper was written using LaTeX and so the editable version consists of a number of files. How can I upload this onto PROSE? |
| PROSE allows multiple files to be uploaded at the time when the publication files are requested. |
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| F3. Can I upload the publication files as a single zipped file? |
| PROSE does not allow the upload of zipped files. Please upload the publication files individually. |
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| F3. How do I know if my final camera-ready paper has been received? |
| The final camera-ready paper must be in the form of the 'publication files' (see previous FAQs to find out what this means). To find out whether these have been revieved log in to the PROSE review system. If the status of your paper is 'Accepted Publication Files Revieved', then the publication files have been received. If the status is 'Accepted Awaiting Publication Files', then you need to upload the publication files. If the status is anything else, then the review process is not yet complete. |
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| F4. I need to change the publication files I have uploaded. How do I do this? |
| If you click "Done - ..." when you have uploaded your publication files, PROSE locks the upload systems and notifies the conference/journal organisers that the complete set of publication files is ready for processing. If you wish to upload new publication files, you will need to contact the organisers, and ask them to unlock the publication file upload system. When this is done you will be able to delete the files you originally uploaded, and upload new ones. |
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| MANAGEMENT OF THE REVIEW PROCESS AND THE PROSE SYSTEM |
| H1. Types of PROSE user when the system is being used for a CONFERENCE |
| PROSE provides different user log-in types for - Those managing the review process (log-in types Programme Committee Chair and Session Chair), - Reviewers of papers (login type Reviewer), - Authors of papers (login type Author), and - Those that need access to the administrative functions of the system (login type Event Administrator). |
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| H2. Types of PROSE user when the system is being used for a JOURNAL |
| PROSE provides different journal user log-in types for:- - Those managing the review process (log-in types General Editor and Associate Editor), - Reviewers of papers (login type Reviewer), - Authors of papers (login type Author), and - Those that need access to the administrative functions of the system (login type Event Administrator). |
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| H3. The Programme Committee Chair (conference) and General Editor (journal) user types |
| The Programme Committee Chair (PCC) and General Editor (GE) user types have the same functions and capabilities. Note that although there may be a number of users with the PCC or GE login type, there will only be one active PCC or GE. PROSE sends emails only to the active PCC or GE. The review process is described in the tutorial to be found ..here.. It is recommended that PCC/GE PROSE users study this fully. Log in using your PCC/GE log-in details and you will be able to see all papers that have been submitted, the reviewers that have been allocated, and any reviews that have been entered. The following functions are available:- MENU FUNCTIONS The menu bar at the top of the screen provides the following operations:- - Archive Papers This allows you to view the papers that were submitted, but have now been archived because they have been withdrawn, rejected, completed etc. - Users Database PROSE maintains a database of authors, reviewers and other users of the system. Here the PCC/GE has access to the database, allowing changes to be made in user names, passwords and other details. - Statistics Various items of information are presented about submitted papers, session chairs, reviewers, etc. - Excel Extract Information about the submitted papers can be exported into an Excel spreadsheet for use outside PROSE. PAPER FUNCTIONS Click on a paper number and details of that paper will be displayed. The PCC/GE is able to:- - Withdraw the Paper Click on the link and you will be asked to enter a message explaining why the paper is being withdrawn. It will then be removed from the system. Note that only the PCC/GE has the ability to withdraw papers. - Change the Session Chair (conference) or Associate Editor (journal) Often as each paper is submitted it is assigned to a Session Chair or Associate Editor, who allocates reviewers and manages the review process for that paper. This function allows the PCC/GE to change the Session Chair or Associate Editor. Only the PCC/GE can do this. - Allocate Reviewers In many cases papers are allocated to Session Chairs / Associate Editors and they allocate reviewers. However, in the case of some small events, the system may be set up so that the PCC/GE allocates the reviewers. See the section on Session Chair / Associate Editor functions for more details on dealing with reviewers. Paper History The Paper History link (in the menu bar) allows you to see events in the history of the paper, when it was submitted, when reviewers were allocated and who they were, etc. |
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| H4. The Session Chair (conference) and Associate Editor (journal) login types |
| The Session Chair (SC) and Associate Editor (AE) user types have the same functions and capabilities. The SC/AE is responsible for managing the review process for a group of papers. The review process is described in the tutorial to be found ..here.. It is recommended that SC/AE PROSE users study this fully. Log in using your SC/AE log-in details and you will be able to see all papers that have been allocated to you. Click on a paper number and details of that paper will be displayed. The SC/AE is able to allocate reviewers to the paper. These reviewers may already be contained in the users database, or if not, they can be added by the SC/AE. It is also possible to withdraw reviewers and allocate others if necessary. |
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| H5. Loading reviewers details |
| When a new conference or journal is set up there is often a requirement to enter a list of reviewers, and the topics on which each of them are able to review. This can be done for individual reviewers through the 'Users Database'. However there is also an 'Invite Reviewers' facility available on PROSE. This requires the upload of a CSV file containing the names and email adresses of the reviewers. PROSE then sends an email to each reviewer containing a link. When the reviewer clicks on the link they are presented with a page that invites them to enter their details, and also up to about 10 topics as bullet points, describing their expertise. Note that it is assumed that the recipients have previously given their consent to acting as reviewers. This facility is meant only as a means to conveniently get the reviewers details onto PROSE, not as a substitute for a formal invitation to become a reviewer. |
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| H6. The Event Administrator user type |
| The Event Administrator (EA) user type provides access to the administration functions for the PROSE system. Some of these functions affect the set-up of the system and so they should be used with caution. The functions are listed below. MANAGEMENT OPTIONS - Setup Review Questionnaire The online form completed by the reviewers is customisable under this option. Of course there could be problems if the form is changed once reviewers have begun the review process. - Maintain Personnel This option provides access to the Users Database. - Extract Personnel This option allows the contents of the Users Database to be downloaded to an Excel spreadsheet. - Maintain Invited Sessions Use this option (only available when PROSE is set up for conference use) to add or modify Invited Sessions. The sessions appear in a drop-down box when authors submit their papers, allowing the papers to be automatically assigned to a session. - Show Email Log This option allows all emails sent by PROSE to users to be displayed. - Active Programme Committee Chair Although there may be a number of users with the PCC or GE log-in type, there will only be one who is active. PROSE only sends emails about system functions to the active PCC or GE. This menu option allows the active PCC to be selected. - Show Archived Papers Papers can be archived once they are no longer required on PROSE. This option allows archived papers to be inspected. - Show Disc Usage This options shows how much disc space has been used by this conference or journal. SET-UP OPTIONS - Update Event Details This menu item allows a number of settings relating to the conference or journal to be changed - use it with caution. Some settings, for example screen colours or conference/journal name, are unlikely to need changing after the event is set up. Changing some other settings after papers have started arriving or reviews have been entered may have unpredictable effects. You may need to use this option to change the Default Review Days or Final Review Days; these are the number of days allowed before a reviewer is reminded that their review is overdue. - Page, Help and Email Content Management These menu items allow the text on PROSE pages, help pages, and email messages to be customised if required. - Clear Email Log This deletes the record of all sent email messages from the system. Use with caution. |
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| H7. Accessing the Publication Files at the end of the review process. |
| At the end of the review process there is usually a need to pass the publication files to a publisher so that they can be incorporated into the proceedings (conference) or journal. The PCC or General Editor can see the publication files when they log in. However, there is a more convenient method of accessing these files provided by PROSE. FTP access can be provided to enable the complete directory structure containing the papers to be access using an FTP client. This provides a direct way to download the publication files in bulk. Contact the PROSE Support Help line to get this facility set up for you. |
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| H8. I am a conference organiser and I need to unlock the publication file system so that one of our authors can upload more files. How do I do it? |
| If the paper status is 'Accepted Publication Files Received' the publication file upload system will need to be unlocked before more files can be uploaded. To unlock the publication file system you will need to log in using a PCC (Programme Committee Chair) account. Go to the Paper Details page (click on the paper number) and look for the 'Require Further Uploads' link on the left hand side towards the top of the page. Click on this and you can enter a message to the authors, then click on the 'Upload More Files' button. The status goes to 'Accepted Awaiting Publication Files' and authors are able to revise the publication files. When the authors have finished and click on 'Done...' the publication file system becomes locked again and the paper status becomes 'Accepted Publication Files Received'. You should keep track of which papers have had the publication file system unlocked. If you are checking through the publication files to see which papers are complete, you need to know if previously checked publication file sets may have been changed because the publication file system has been unlocked. |
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| H9. How can a paper be moved between invited / special sessions, or general tracks? |
| A paper can be moved between general tracks, or between invited / special sessions, by someone possessing a PCC (Programme Committee Chair) level login account. Log in to your PCC account. Open the 'Paper Details' page for the paper by clicking on the paper number. On the right hand side, opposite the name of the session chair, there is a link 'Withdraw'. Click on this and a drop-down box appears, allowing the paper to be moved to another invited / special session or general track. NOTES: 1. Do not confuse the link to withdraw the session chair with the link to withdraw the paper, which results in the paper being deleted from the system. 2. If invited / special session papers and general track papers are on different PROSE systems (usually the case with the annual KES conference, but not the other conferences) it is not possible to transfer papers between invited / special sessions and general tracks. |
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| H10. How can I send a bulk email to PROSE system users? |
| You can do this if you have a PCC (Programme Committee Chair) level or EA (Event Administrator) level access. - Log in using your PCC or EA user id and password. - Click on 'Users Database'. Then click on 'Email Users'. - Select the recipient group, All Users, Reviewers, Authors, etc., from the drop-down box. Enter the text to be sent, and click to send. |
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| H11. I need to carry out some action on behalf of an author or other system user. How can I log in as them? |
| Someone with a PCC level account can 'pseudo-login' as another user and carry out any actions the user is able to do. To do this:- 1. Log in using your PCC account userid and password. 2. Select the 'paper Details' screen for the paper by clicking on its number on the left hand side. 3. On the 'Author' row, near the top, the main author's name is displayed as a link. Click on this. You will be taken to the 'Contact Details' screen. 4. At bottom right there is a button 'Login as this User'. Click on this button and you will be pseudo-logged in as this user. 5. Complete whatever actions you need to, and click on the 'Log Out' link at top right when you are finished. You will then be logged in to your PCC account again. |
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| H12. How often does PROSE send out reminders to reviewers, and how can I change this? |
| Log in with your event admininstrator account. Go to 'Update Event Details'. PROSE sends out one email reminder after 'Default Review Days' (Email #05) and another after 'Final Review Days' (Email #06). No other reminders are sent. |
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| REQUIREMENTS FOR USING PROSE |
| R1. What are the requirements for running PROSE? |
| PROSE is a hosted service running on professional servers. So, your only requirements are a computer with an internet connection and a browser. |
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| R2. Do I have to have my own server? |
| We offer PROSE as a hosted service, so PROSE is installed on our professional servers. There is no need for you to have your own server. |
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| R3. Is PROSE compatible with Windows/PCs, Linux-based systems, Apple Macs, etc. |
| PROSE is an internet-based system where users accessing it via a browser. Providing your computer has web access and an internet browser (e.g. Internet explorer, Netscape navigator, Opera, Mozilla Firefox, etc) there should be no problem about using PROSE. |
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| R4. Can I run PROSE on my own server if I wish? |
| We offer PROSE as a hosted service and recommend that it is used in this way. However, if you have specific requirements that make it necessary for you to host PROSE yourself we can discuss this with you. |
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| R5. Can I integrate PROSE with my conference or journal web site? |
| Yes. We will provide you with two URLs that you may embed in your web pages as you wish. One of will link to a page to be used by authors who wish to submit a new page. The other will link to a login screen that enables returning authors, editors, programme committee members, etc., to access the system through a password-protected login. |
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| R6. How much does PROSE cost? |
| A years subscription to the PROSE service costs about the same as a couple of days of your time, costed at realistic rates. Think about how much time PROSE can save you and you will agree that PROSE is well worth the cost. |
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| MAKING CONTACT |
| C1. Who should I contact about problems with using PROSE in connection with a conference or journal? |
| In case of problems, please read the FAQs and help thoroughly to ensure the answer to your problem is not contained there. For general problems, including lost passwords, contact the organisers of the conference or journal, who are responsible for support. |
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| C2. I have a technical problem with PROSE - who do I contact about it? |
| In the case of specific technical problems you can find contact details for PROSE Support ... here ... |
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| C3. I am interested in using PROSE for my conference or journal, what should I do? |
| You can find contact details ... here ... |
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