How to Modify Reviewer Assignments as an Area Chair

The edge browser is a tool for visualizing edges, or matches, created by OpenReview's automatic paper matching algorithm. You can use it to browse, sort, search, and create new assignments between reviewers and papers until you are happy with the assignments generated.

Navigating the Edge Browser

If the option to modify assignments is available for Area Chairs in your venue, you should find a link to do so in your Area Chair console that will bring you directly to the edge browser.

All of your assigned papers will appear in a single column on the left. Clicking on a paper in the list will pull up a second column containing all reviewers, colored by their relationship to the selected paper:

1. Light green means that the reviewer is assigned to the paper selected at left.

2. White means that the reviewer is not assigned to and has no conflict with the paper selected at left.

You can search for specific papers by paper title or number at the top of the first column. At the top of the subsequent column you can also search for specific reviewers by their name, email or profile id. You can sort the column on the right by whatever edge types are shown, such as Assignment, Aggregate Score, Bid, or Affinity Score, using the 'Order By' dropdown. The second column will show the total number of assignments for the selected reviewer.

Creating and Removing Assignments Using the Edge Browser

You can delete an assignment using the trash can button on a certain Reviewer.

There are two ways to create assignments:

1. Using the 'Assign' button. This assigns a reviewer to a paper and notifies them by email. The assignment becomes automatically available in the Reviewer and AC consoles.

2. Using the 'Invite Assignment' button. This is only availble if it has been enabled by the Program Chairs. This sends an invitation to the reviewer with an accept/decline link. The reviewer can then respond to the invitation. If you want to invite a reviewer from outside the reviewer pool, including another Area Chair, you can do so by searching for their email address or profileID in the search bar of the second column and clicking 'Invite Assignment'. If they are in conflict with that paper, a banner will alert you with an error. Otherwise, they will receive an email notifying them of their invitation with the option to accept or reject the assignment. Their status will change according to their response to your invitation ('Declined', 'Pending Sign Up', 'Accepted', or 'Conflict Detected').

Some reviewers have a custom reduced paper load which appears in the edge browser as 'Custom Max Papers'. You cannot directly assign a reviewer to more papers than their custom max papers, but you can 'Invite' reviewers if that option is enabled for you. You can also filter out reviewers who have met their quota with the checkbox 'Only show reviewers with fewer than max assigned papers.'