View by category
How can I make changes to a completed review in Editorial Manager?
Last updated on August 04, 2023If a reviewer has made an error or has further comments after submitting a review, it may be possible to reopen or edit the review before the decision is sent to the author.
Once an editor has saved a decision, the existing reviewer comments are copied into the editor's form, where the editor can make changes. After that, any changes to past Reviewer Comments will not be automatically updated within the editor decision form, or the author letter. Instead, updates must be made either within the Decision form, or in the Draft Decision Letter, in order for those changes to be seen by the author.
For details, please see How do I make a decision in Editorial Manager?
Watch this short video to see the steps.
- Log in and go to your Reviewer Main Menu.
- Select 'Completed Assignments' and locate the completed review you wish to change. See How do I find a submission I was invited to review in Editorial Manager?
- To view your comments as submitted, select View Reviewer Comments.
- Select 'Send E-mail' .
- If there is no Send E-mail link, contact us via the channels at the bottom of this page.
- Customize the email text to explain why you need to make changes to your completed review.
- Select 'Preview and Send', and then 'Send E-mail'.
The journal should respond in one of these ways:
- If the editors have not started any decision, they may be able to Reopen the review. In that case you will receive a new Reviewer Invitation letter, and it will move back to your Pending Assignments folder.
- The journal may be able to manually edit your completed review to make the changes you request.
- If the decision has already been sent to the author, it may be too late to make any changes.
If a reviewer requests changes to a completed review before the decision is sent to author, and you agree the changes should be made:
- Locate the submission in EM and select 'View Reviews and Comments' to open a popup window . Each reviewer connected to the submission is listed, followed by each assigned editor, and then by the corresponding author. A column appears for each revision showing the status of each listed individual.
- For each competed review, the selected reviewer Recommendation Term is displayed as a hyperlink to open the detailed review.
- Other statuses such as Invited, agreed to review, and Partial Review Saved are displayed as unlinked text.
- (None) could mean the reviewer was not invited for that revision, was uninvited/declined, etc.
- Reviewers that have been declined/uninvited without ever agreeing for any revision are not displayed at all in this table.
- For each editor, if the editor has already made a decision, then the Decision term is displayed as a hyperlink to open the Editor Decision Form.
- No Decision (in red) indicates the editor assignment is still active.
- If the editor assignment was ended by some other means, such as a Skip or Termination, that is not a hyperlink.
- Just above the corresponding author, any Author Decision Letter that has been sent is displayed as a hyperlink.
If the reviewer status is entirely blank: While it is not possible for a reviewer to submit without selecting a recommendation term, it is possible for an editor to later edit the form to remove the term. In that case the status column is empty without any link to open the form and take action. If you see a reviewer with no text at all listed on the View Reviews and Comments table, please contact your Journal Manager, or else contact our support teams via the channels below.
- Check if there is an Author Decision Letter listed for the current revision.
- If so, the author has been notified of the decision and so changes cannot be made to the review comments.
- Check if any editor has made a decision for the current revision.
- In that case, the editor form will have an author-facing version or reviewer comments saved. You may still be able to edit the reviewer forms as described below, but that will not automatically reflected on the version that will be sent to the author.
- Once an editor decision has been saved, authors will only see changes to reviewer comments that are done as part of Editor Decision or Author Notification steps.
- Select the relevant Reviewer's Recommendation Term to open the review.
- If the reviewer agreed to review, and then was terminated by an editor, a link [Terminated by Editor] appears in place of the recommendation term, selecting this allows you "Edit review comments" as described below. In this case the review status will change from Terminated to Completed when you save the review as described below.
- When you select any Reviewer Recommendation term link to open the review, you may have either one or both of these options , depending on your permission and the submission status.
![[Terminated by Editor]](https://supportcontent.elsevier.com/Support%20Hub/Journals/29894-image3.png){kind=link}
- Reopen review : sends a new invitation to the reviewer so they can resubmit a new review; this is available only before a decision has been made.
- Edit Reviewer Comments : opens the review form in edit mode, allowing you to edit almost any part of the reviewer's response. You will not be able to edit the reviewer's choices for Article Transfer options.
Re-open Review is the preferred option, when available, as it allows the reviewer to make their own changes to the review rather than the editor acting for the reviewer.
- Read the warning, then select 'OK' to confirm the action.
- The Re-open Review and Customize Letters screen will appear.
- Select an Invitation letter.
- Select "Customize" to edit the letter to let the reviewer know how and why they should resubmit the review.
- For example, if the reviewer requested this be done you could say 'as you requested', or if the reviewer left out an important part of the review you can add those details to the new invitation.
- Let the reviewer know they can find the review under "Pending Assignments".
- Leave any merge codes (text between %% symbols) unchanged.
- Select 'Confirm Selection and Send Letter'.
- The assignment moves back to the reviewer's Pending Assignments folder, and they can make their own changes before submitting the review again.
- The status may change, depending on the number of required reviews. For example, if the status was previously required reviews complete, but reopening this review lowers the number of completed reviews past the requirement, the status will revert to Under Review.
- You may want to edit the Reviewer Due date. Select the "Details" link for the submission. If you do have permission to edit review due dates, you will be able to change the date next to the reviewer's name, and then select "Save and Close" at the bottom. See here for more detailed steps.
'Edit Reviewer Comments' steps
If any editor has saved a decision, then the Reviewer's Comments to Author have already been saved in the Editor Decision form. Changes you make here now will not be automatically updated in the Decision Form or Letter.
- Read the warning , then select "OK" to reload in edit mode.
- You can change any part of the review form, including text and any responses to questions.
- Changes are not reversible, once you save the form the previous version cannot be recovered.
- You will not be able to view or edit the reviewer's choices for Article Transfer options.
DO NOT remove the Reviewer Recommendation term entirely, this will make the review inaccessible to edit again in the future.
- Select 'Save and Close' when done with changes.
Did we answer your question?
Related answers
How do I make a decision in Editorial Manager?
Video Guide: Making changes to your completed review in Editorial Manager
How can an editor update the required number of reviews for a submission in Editorial Manager?
Reviewer Guide to Editorial Manager
What does the status of my submission mean in Editorial Manager?
Recently viewed answers
Functionality disabled due to your cookie preferences