Reviewers unable to see review file

Hello,

I am using OJS 3.3 and having a problem where, when a review file is uploaded, the reviewers cannot see it. I have checked logging in as a reviewer on one of these submissions, and the review file does not show up for them. I have no idea why it is not showing up; I tried re-uploading the file in one example submission and it still did not show up. Has anybody encountered this problem/or has any information on how to solve it?

Thanks!
Rachel

Hi @Rachel,

Can you clarify a few points here:

Which file is the reviewer trying to view (e.g. the author’s submission)?
What specific version of OJS are you using (e.g. 3.3.0-7)?

-Roger
PKP Team

Hi @rcgillis,

Thanks for your reply! Yes: we’re using OJS 3.3.0-7. And the reviewer is trying to view the review file - it was uploaded by an editor into the review stage. I’m attaching a screenshot to show where the file is.Screen Shot 2021-10-13 at 12.02.21 PM

Thanks!

Hi @Rachel,

Thanks for sharing the screenshot. This is helpful. This is the editor’s view, correct? Can you confirm that the Reviewer has accepted the request to review? That might impact their ability to see it, if that is the case.

-Roger

Yes, this is the editor’s view, and yes, the reviewer accepted the request to review, but when I login as this reviewer, they don’t see any files. Here is the reviewer view in the same submission (and the reviewer has definitely accepted the review):
Screen Shot 2021-10-13 at 2.06.45 PM

Hi @Rachel,

Hmmm… I was not able to duplicate this error when I tested it - the files appeared just fine, so not entirely sure what is going on here. Do you have access to your PHP error log and can paste the output from that here? Not entirely sure if that will help, but I’ll at least see if I can get some of my other team members to have a look and see if they can suggest something.

Best regards,

-Roger
PKP Team

We have the same problem with OJS 3.3.0.6. If the files are present on the Review page before a reviewer is chosen, either as part of the acceptance process or through a manual upload to the Review page, the reviewer can see the files when they sign in. If the files are uploaded to the Review page AFTER the reviewers are chosen, they cannot see them.

I have tested this after manually uploading the files to the Review page, then by logging in as the reviewer who couldn’t see the files AND by asking the reviewer to log in for themselves to see if they can see the files that I manually uploaded to the Review page.

If the reviewer was assigned after the files were uploaded the Review page (either by the acceptance process or by a manual upload), they can see the files.

If you would like to see this in action, please let me know and we can meet via Zoom so that I can share my screen.

– Marianne Reed

Hi @mreedks,

Thanks for reporting your experience. We’ll have a close look at this and get back to you.

Best regards,

Roger
PKP Team

Hi @mreedks,

As per my previous post, did you have any output from PHP error logs that we can look at to better gauge where this error might be occurring?

-Roger
PKP Team

Sorry, @rcgillis, you asked @Rachel for her logs, not me, so I have not sent them to you. Did she ever supply them?

Hi @rcgillis --I’m the other person on 3.3.0.7 @mreedks mentioned having the same issue. We recently upgraded our software from OJS2 to OJS 3.3.0.7–and the reviewer files are missing for the majority of reviews sent before the upgrade. I have asked our IT department about any PHP logs we might have, but they’re working on a different bug as well at the moment, so their response may be delayed.

Let me know if there are any other questions I can answer!

@Johanna The files are visible to the editors, though, correct?

@mreedks Yes! It’s visible to editors/admin.

1 Like

Oops - my mistake. Can you clarify: the issue with the reviewers not being able to see the files - are these the files that are from new submissions (post-upgrade), or did they from previous submissions (i.e. prior to your upgrade from 2.x)?

@rcgillis The submissions where reviewers can’t see files are from OJS2–pre-upgrade.

@rcgillis, this should work to replicate the problem:

  1. Assign reviewers to a submission.
  2. After they have been assigned, add another file to the Review Files section on the Review tab.
  3. See if the reviewers can see the new file

We first encountered this problem when an editor accidentally didn’t choose a file to move forward to the Review stage and went ahead and assigned reviewers. The editor realized that there was no file to review, so uploaded it to the Review Files area manually. The reviewers were unable to see the file.

Reviewers assigned after that file was uploaded were able to see the file.

The same thing happens if a second file is uploaded to the Review Files area after reviewers are assigned. They are unable to see the second file.

Thanks for explaining things further.

I wasn’t able to replicate this issue - it worked fine for me.

You can modify what files the reviewer has access to by clicking on the down arrow next to the assigned reviewer - clicking edit, and ensuring that the appropriate files are selected:

Screen Shot 2022-03-31 at 1.30.28 PM

Does that work for you? Does it then make it visible to the reviewer?

-Roger

Checking on another thing here as well:

Do you have this setting enabled in the Workflow Settings - Review Options (“Restrict File Access”):

Screen Shot 2022-03-31 at 1.36.26 PM

I wonder too if this might be a case of the reviewers not having agreed to review the submission, and thus don’t have access to the file due to this setting?

-Roger
PKP Team

@rcgillis What version of OJS are you using?