START V2 is an integrated, user-friendly, web-based system for managing peer-reviewed conferences. Each step of the process is fully automated, and controlled by a single-panel interface. This interface was designed to follow the typical flow of a conference's editorial process. Anyone who has ever participated in a conference review process will be able to use START V2 immediately after installation.
START V2 is 100% web-driven. The system can be hosted anywhere, and managed remotely. There can be multiple administrators, whose accounts are set up by the root administrator (usually the committee chairperson). START provides configurable "views" for all who interact with the system - e.g., authors, reviewers, committee members, track coordinators, and program chairs. There are many policy options available - settings that control "who sees what" and "who does what".
In essence, START V2 is a sophisticated, process-based tool, which steps you through your conference submission/review cycle. It has been used by conferences with all kinds of editorial organizations. The software doesn't impose any kind of structure on you. Rather, it is sufficiently flexible to manage almost any type of conference process.
The following pages present a partial summary of the features included in START V2:
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Administration View
START's administration console, which is the "central command center" for your conference. -
Committee Member/Reviewer View
The view that your reviewers see when working with START. -
Track Manager View
If you decide to use START's multi-track functionality, then each track can be managed semi-autonomously by a Track Manager's console - a scaled-down version of the START manager's console. -
Track Reviewer View
to select which options are seen by a track reviewer. -
Author View
From an author's perspective, START V2 is very user-friendly. There is no complicated, multi-phase registration process to endure.