Submission management system

A submission management system is a software system that streamlines and eases out the collection, tracking and management of electronic submissions. Most submission management systems are web-based and operate in a browser environment, although some may also be shipped in the form of a desktop application too.

A submission management system may be regarded as a application-specific content management system. In essence, such a system can be used an alternative to email in many situations.

Common Features

Although submission management systems can get pretty complex, there are some features that a submission management system must provide in order for it to be classified under that category. Here is a list of some of those features:

1. Provision to provide a start time and an end time for collecting submissions
2. Mechanism for collection and storage of electronic submissions
3. Mechanism for downloading and viewing the collected submissions only to authorized people at any given time
4. Mechanism for accepting and rejecting submissions
5. Provision for giving relevant feedback to submitters
6. Provision for requesting resubmission of submissions
7. Mechanism for submitters to view submissions made by them and associated comments

Common Applications

Each of these applications encompass the entire work-flow and all common features of typical submission management systems.

Course Management

Main article: Course Management System

Course management systems are used in colleges and universities to collect and manage course assignments and projects in electronic formats.

Conference Management

Main article: Conference management system

Call-for-paper conferences use conference management systems to collect, review and shortlist research papers and then notify the authors whose papers are shortlisted for publication and presentation.

Resume Management and Recruitment Management

Main article: Employment website

Employment websites and job sites collect electronic versions of resumes and help recruiters connect with job seekers in a streamlined fashion.

Event and Competition Management

Main article: Event management software

Several events and competitions have an online round for shortlisting and selecting participants and attendees. The organizers of such events use event management systems with a functionality to collect and manage electronic submissions.

Proposal Application Management

Grant giving organizations and investment firms often require applicants to submit proposals as the first step of the process. These proposals are usually submitted in electronic formats after which they undergo a shortlisting process using a derivative of a submission management system built in-house.

Online Survey Management

Systems like SurveyMonkey and Google Docs allow users to create online surveys, collect responses from people over the Internet and view the results in various formats including graphs. These systems are essentially variants of submission management systems.

Generic Systems

Generic submission management systems are not built specifically to suit one submission management application or scenario. Rather, they allow users to collect and manage submissions across multiple applications and scenarios. Though such systems exist, they are comparatively less in number as compared to application-specific ones.

Existing Systems

• Blackboard: Allows management of course assignments and projects in universities, schools and colleges
• Moodle: An open-source alternative to Blackboard
• Sakai: An open-source collaboration and learning environment that allows submission management in scenarios similar to Moodle and Blackboard
• EDAS: A conference management system with review functionality
• EasyChair: A conference management system similar to EDAS
• Submishmash: An online submission management system for art, cultural and literary publications, and agents
• Submission Manager: An online system for accepting and managing written submissions for a magazine or press.
• Orangut: A generic submission management system with review functionality
• YouNoodle: YouNoodle provides a submission management platform for business plans
• SurveyMonkey: A web-based platform to create and manage survey submissions
• Google Forms: An application similar to SurveyMonkey
• Monster Jobs: An online resume and recruitment management system

Resistance to Submission Management Systems

Wide spread adoption and use of submission management systems (esp. in the context of the academia) has been hampered by several facts that include but are not limited to:

• Inconvenience while drawing figures, diagrams and equations on a computer
• Resistance to change and adopt new technologies
• Lack of or limited access to the Internet
• Strict adherence to submission deadlines
• Extra effort in using submission management systems as compared to traditional modes like email
• Lack of trust in web-based submission management systems
• Steep learning curve