Review functionalities in HICSS Paper Submission and Review System have been enabled. Please review the instructions below carefully before initiating the review process.

Before assigning papers to reviewers:

  • Papers authored by Minitrack Chair or Co-chair will appear on a list of submissions. They should be denoted as MTC papers. Reviews of MTC papers will be handled and managed by Track Chairs. If papers in this category are not denoted as MTC, please let us know.
  • Check each paper to make sure that it conforms to the HICSS format (i.e., double-column, single spaced, no more than 10 pages including references, tables, etc.) and author information is omitted. If any papers significantly deviate from the suggested format or contain author’s information, please ask authors to fix them and email them to hicss@hawaii.edu. We will submit these revised papers to the system. Please note that we have introduced new updates to the manuscript template. We requested authors to add the Keywords section to the manuscript. We also requested the authors to use the APA format for references and in-text citations. We are moving away from the use of numbered references. Please initiate the review even though these guidelines are not incorporated into the manuscripts and request authors to update their manuscripts later if you would like to accept their work for presentation and publication.
  • Read each paper and determine if it fits the minitrack parameters. If there are any papers that do not belong in your minitrack, please let us know. We will redirect them to appropriate minitracks.
  • HICSS has endorsed the implementation of desk-reject policy on submissions that would very likely be rejected if reviewed by Reviewers, Minitrack Chairs, Track Chairs and the Conference Chair. If the paper should be DESK REJECTED, seek Track Chairs’ approval via email with a copy to HICSS. Once approved, notify the authors directly via email also with a copy to HICSS. Authors should be notified of desk rejection by July 10.

Examples of reasons for desk rejects include:

  • Topic is clearly out of scope, irrelevant, or outdated given the research focus published by HICSS.
  • Manuscript contains inappropriate content that includes inconsistency and inaccuracy of statements, unclear impact, or novelty.
  • Manuscript is incomplete to make the paper self-contained from the reader’s perspective.
  • Manuscript is very poorly written with typos and grammatical errors that would make it hard to read and review.
  • There is evidence of plagiarism or self-plagiarism.
  • Manuscript is considered a simultaneous submission.

To log into HICSS Paper Submission and Review System at https://hicss-submissions.org/

  • Click LOG IN
  • Enter your email address (as shown in the minitrack description on HICSS website, unless you have advised us to use a different one) and password from the last time you used the system
  • Click RESET PASSWORD if you forget your password or if this is your first time using the system. You will then receive an email with a token and a link to reset password.

Under the “CHAIRING” section, Minitrack Chairs can:

  • View submissions
  • Assign papers to reviewers
  • See reviews submitted by Reviewers
  • Monitor review progress
  • [For the Primary Chair only] Enter review summary and record decision

To access details and manuscript of each submission, review assignment tools, and reviews submitted by reviewers, please click the VIEW (eye) icon in the Actions column.

To assign a paper to a reviewer, please enter reviewer’s first name, last name, and email address in the provided form. After clicking the SUBMIT button, an invitation will be automatically sent. The message includes a title and abstract of the paper, review deadline, title of the minitrack where the paper belongs, and a list of minitrack chairs in that minitrack. Please note that:

  • A copy of the invitation to review will also be sent to Minitrack chairs and Co-chairs. To make sure that the message makes it to your inbox, please indicate hicss@hawaii.edu and hicss.hawaii.edu as Safe Sender in the email client.
  • Minitrack Chairs and Co-chairs will also be notified when the reviewers accept/reject the invitation. If the reviewers do not respond in 3-5 days, please consider contacting them directly to follow up.

To monitor reviews, see the columns to the right of each submission — They show how many reviews have been invited, accepted, and completed. Rest the mouse on the column header to get a detailed explanation for the column. A review assignment overview can be found when clicking on the ‘Review Assignment Overview’ button. The overview shows the review status by paper and by invitee.

To see reviews,

  • From the dashboard, clicking the VIEW (eye) button in the Actions column toward the beginning of the row will take you to the page where you can download a paper (Paper Information page).
  • In the Paper Information page, clicking the REVIEWS tab on that page will take you to reviews submitted by your reviewers.
  • The REVIEWS page lists reviews by reviewers. To see inputs from each reviewer, expand the row by clicking on the + sign or anywhere on the row.

To record a decision by Primary Minitrack Chair,

  • From the dashboard, clicking the VIEW (eye) button in the Actions column towards the beginning of the row will take you to the page where you can download a paper (Paper Information page).
  • In the Paper Information page, clicking the DECISION tab on that page will take you to a form where you record your decision, review summary, and specific comments from Minitrack Chairs to Authors.
  • For papers that are accepted with mandatory changes, those required changes should be clearly outlined in the Review Summary field.
  • Save your selected decision and progress in the Review Summary field before switching tabs. You can continue to update them until September 15. These two fields will be reactivated so that you can update them for papers accepted with mandatory changes during the second round of review.
  • Decision, comments in the Review Summary, and Review in the REVIEWs tab are included in the decision notification to be sent to authors.

Under the “REVIEWING” section, Primary Minitrack Chairs and Minitrack Co-Chairs can:

  • CHAIR REVIEWS: Provide reviews for papers submitted to their own minitrack. (Reviews submitted in this section will be included in the notification to be sent to authors. They will appear as reviews from anonymous reviewers.)
  • ASSIGNED REVIEWS: Provide reviews for papers assigned to them as External Reviewer

To enter reviews as a Minitrack Chair or Co-chair, you do not have to send review invitation to yourself or your co-chair.

  • You will find a list of papers submitted to your own minitrack under CHAIR REVIEWS.
  • In the Actions column toward the beginning of the row, you will find the VIEW (eye) button.
  • Clicking that button will take you to the page where you can download a paper.

Important Dates

July 10:
Deadline for minitrack chairs to send email notifications to authors of desk-rejected papers

August 1:
Deadline for reviewers to submit their reviews

August 15:
Deadline for minitrack chairs (primary contact) to recommend decisions on all papers

August 17:
Deadline for HICSS Conference Office to send Acceptance/Rejection notification to authors

September 4:
Deadline for authors with papers accepted with mandatory change (A-M) to submit the revised papers for final review

September 10:
Deadline for minitrack chairs (primary contact) to recommend final decision on papers accepted with mandatory change (A-M)

September 11:
Deadline for HICSS Conference Office to send Acceptance/Rejection notifications for A-M papers to authors

September 22:
Deadline for authors to submit the final manuscript of accepted papers for publication

October 1:
Deadline for at least one author of each paper to register for the conference

October 7:
Deadline for Minitrack Chair – Primary Contact to provide presentation order of accepted papers and identify final manuscripts that do not follow HICSS formatting Guideline and significantly change in scope

October 22:
Deadline for minitrack chairs to provide 1) decision on the paper to be nominated for the best paper award* and 2) an introduction to minitrack**

*Since Track Chairs handle the reviews of minitrack chairs’ papers, they are responsible for nominating minitrack chairs’ papers. Minitrack Chairs can only nominate papers that they handle the reviews. They cannot nominate their own paper for the best paper award.

**The introduction must be formatted according to the Final Format Specifications. It should not be merely an overview of abstracts of papers in your minitrack, but should introduce the reader to the important issues that exist in the research area.

First day of the conference:
Attend the pre-paper session meetings with your Track Chair(s) and authors in your minitrack

During the conference:
Oversee and manage your minitrack presentations