Setting up review workflows

Decide who reviews first, who reviews after them, and which workflow is the default.

A review workflow decides the order in which people review a section: who looks first, who looks after them, and when each group is told it is their turn. This guide shows administrators how to build and manage workflows. For the day-to-day experience of reviewing, see Reviewing and approving; for sending work into review, see Sending a section for review.

To open the page, click Review Workflows in the Administration group of the left-hand menu. The page is titled Review Workflows and explains itself: "Reviewers in the first level review first; each following level is only activated — and notified — once every required reviewer in the previous level has approved."

The idea in plain words#

A workflow is a ladder of levels. Each level holds one or more roles — for example, Level 1: Medical Monitor and Biostatistician; Level 2: Regulatory Affairs.

When a writer submits a section:

1. Only Level 1 reviewers are notified. Level 2 reviewers see the section marked as waiting — it is not yet their turn.
2. When every required Level 1 reviewer approves, Level 2 becomes active. Its reviewers get a notification that the section is ready for them.
3. This continues level by level. When the last level approves, the section is approved.
4. If any reviewer asks for changes, the section goes straight back to the writer. After revising, the writer submits again and review starts over from Level 1.

Without any workflow, review is "flat": all reviewers are notified at once, in no particular order.

Creating a workflow#

1. Click the New Workflow button in the top-right corner.
2. What you'll see: a window titled New Review Workflow.
3. Type a Name — for example "Standard Protocol Review".
4. Optionally add a Description.
5. Under Review levels (marked "(reviewed in order)"), the window starts with Level 1. Click the role buttons to add roles to the level — a selected role turns solid. Click again to remove it.
6. Click Add level for each further level, and pick its roles the same way.
7. To reorder levels, use the up and down arrows beside each level. To remove a level, click its trash symbol (at least one level must remain).
8. Click Create Workflow.
9. What you'll see: the window closes and the workflow appears as a card, with its levels summarized like "L1: Medical Monitor → L2: Regulatory Affairs".

Note: Each role can appear in only one level. A role already used elsewhere is shown grayed out with the hint "Already used in another level". If a level has no roles yet, an amber note says "Pick at least one role." — the save button stays gray until every level has at least one.

Making one workflow the default#

One workflow can be the organization-wide default. It then applies automatically to every section that has not been given a workflow of its own.

1. On the workflow's card, click Set default.
2. What you'll see: a Default badge appears on that card, and disappears from the previous default.

Individual sections can still be pointed at a different workflow: in the protocol editor, each section has a Review workflow: dropdown whose first choice is Tenant default. Writers or admins can pick a specific workflow there for special sections — see The protocol editor at a glance. Workflows apply to protocol sections, consent form sections, and visit instructions alike.

Editing, deactivating, and deleting#

• Edit — opens the same window, titled Edit Review Workflow. It adds one extra checkbox: Active (inactive workflows are hidden from section pickers). Untick it to retire a workflow without deleting it; the card then shows an Inactive badge. Click Save Changes when done.
• Delete — opens a confirmation titled Delete workflow?. It explains what happens: sections assigned to the deleted workflow fall back to the default (or to flat review if there is no default), and "Reviews already in progress are not affected — their levels were locked in at submission."

Note: Because levels are locked in at the moment of submission, editing a workflow never disturbs a review that is already under way. Your change applies the next time a section is submitted.

What a workflow demands at submission#

When a section is submitted for review, Trelice checks that every role in every level of its workflow has at least one assigned reviewer. If a level's role has nobody assigned, the submission is refused with a message saying which role is missing. The fix is simple: assign a reviewer with that role before submitting — see Sending a section for review.

While a section is in review, the editor shows a purple badge such as Review level 1 so everyone can see whose turn it is. Reviewers whose level has not started yet see a note like "waiting for level 2" next to their name.

Troubleshooting: If a reviewer says they were assigned but received no notification, check which level they are in. Only the active level is notified. They will be told automatically the moment the previous level finishes — see Notifications and reminders. You can also find every waiting review in Pending tasks and your own in Your approval queue.