The process of distributing printed copies of grant requests to reviewers, as well as managing the workflow associated with collecting and integrating their responses, can be time-consuming and complex.  Reviewer Connect is designed to automate this process through a combination of Windows-based review management facilities for administration and Web-based interface where reviewers can access grant requests and submit reviews.

Windows-based Management of Review Workflow

The Windows-based component of Reviewer Connect is designed to enable administrative staff to manage the design of reviews (employing a range of data types including open text, rankings and so on), assignment of reviews, the processing and management of in-coming review responses, and the integration of paper-based processes if certain reviewers prefer not to use the Web interface.  The key partner in the development of Reviewer Connect, the National Geographic Society, is a research foundation that utilizes thousands of outside expert scientific reviewers distributed across the globe, and so the standard to which we built the workflow management capabilities of Reviewer Connect demanded an interface capable of this significant task.  The most suitable way to build this type of interface was in Windows, which has the added advantage of being integrated directly into the GIFTS product, which is where the personnel who manage this process spend most of their day.

Web-based Reviewer Interface
While managing the review process demanded the creation of a Windows interface, providing an easy-to-use, globally accessible means by which reviewers could access grant requests and submit reviews equally so demanded the use of a Web interface.  Built on top of the same Web-enabling technology as My GIFTS, the GIFTS Connections Server, Reviewer Connect employs the same easy-to-understand interface design that is modelled on Windows.  Reviewers login and are presented with their assigned reviews, follow links to access grant request details, including supporting documents such as Word, Excel or multimedia files, and finally use a simple, customisable form to submit their review.  Indeed, the entire Reviewer Connect Web interface can be customized separately for both internal and external reviewers, enabling you to present only the information you want reviewers to see, in the format and arrangement that makes sense for your process.