Contents

• Overview
• What is the Conflict of Interest Question?
• ⚠️Important Notes
• Step-By-Step Instructions
• Reviewer Experience
  • When the Conflict of Interest Question is set to YES
  • When the Conflict of Interest Question is set to NO
• What Happens After a Reviewer Reports a Conflict?
  • How to View the Reviewer's Comment on the Declined Assignment
• Related Articles

Overview

This article shows program admins how to turn the conflict of interest question on or off for a review round in Next, and what reviewers see when it's enabled. 

What is the Conflict of Interest Question?

The conflict of interest question lets reviewers tell you they can't fairly review an application. For example, a reviewer might know the applicant, work for their organization, or benefit if the application is funded. 

You turn the question on or off separately for each review round in the cycle's Workflow Builder. 

➜ When it’s ON: Reviewers answer the question before the feedback form loads. If they report a conflict, their assignment is declined, and they can’t give feedback on that application.


 

➜ When it’s OFF: Reviewers go straight to the feedback form.
 

• Who can turn this setting on/off in a review round: 
  • Organization Owners
  • Client Admins 
  • Program Owners
  • Program Managers  
     

⚠️Important Notes 

•  ON by default in review rounds: The question is turned on by default for every new review round you create in the Workflow Builder. Changing it in one round doesn’t change it in any other round.

• A reported conflict can’t be undone: Once a reviewer reports a conflict, neither they nor a Program Admin can change their response. If it was a mistake, see the FAQs below.

Step-By-Step Instructions

You turn the conflict of interest question on or off in a review round’s Feedback panel in the Workflow Builder. These steps start after you’ve chosen how reviewers will give feedback. If you haven’t done that yet, see ➡️ Set Up a Review Round. 

1. In the Feedback panel for the review round, choose a feedback method. Find “Should reviewers be asked whether they have a conflict of interest?” 

• To show the question to reviewers, toggle it to YES (if not already selected). 
• To hide the question, toggle it to NO. Reviewers will go straight to the feedback form.
  
  
   
• When the toggle is set to YES, a checkbox appears below it. To require reviewers to explain their conflict, check Make comment field required for reviewer to provide more detail on the conflict of interest. Reviewers will then have to enter a reason before they can decline. If you leave it unchecked, the comment is optional.
  
  
   
• If the round has review groups, set this for each group. Each group can have a different setting.
  
  
   

2. Click Next to continue setting up the round. 

Reviewer Experience

When the Conflict of Interest Question is set to YES: 

1. Reviewers click Add Feedback in the upper-right corner of an assigned application. Before the feedback form loads, they see: "Before you begin, please tell us if you have a conflict of interest."
   
   
    
2. They choose one of two options:

A. I have no conflict of interest and can review this application. The feedback form loads for the reviewer to complete. 


 

B. I have a conflict of interest and will not be able to review this application. A text box appears asking for a brief explanation. 

• If you made the comment required, the reviewer sees a red asterisk and can't continue without filling it in. Otherwise, the field is marked Optional. 
  
  
   
• Once the reviewer submits, they can't open the feedback form or give feedback on that application.
   

What Happens After a Reviewer Reports a Conflict? 

• Reviewer View: The application stays in the reviewer's Review Assignments table as read-only, with the status "Declined." If they open it and click Add Feedback, they can see their conflict of interest response.
  
  
  
   
• Program Admins: The Program Owner receives an email titled “Review Assignment Declined.” 
  
  

How to View the Reviewer's Comment on the Declined Assignment 

• Program admins can view the reviewer's comment in the review round: 

  • In the award cycle, select the review round from the left-hand menu.
  • Find the application, then click the hyperlinked number in the Assignments column.
  • In the Review Assignments panel, look under Reviewers Who Declined Assignment to see the reviewer and their comment.
    
    

   

How to Reassign a Declined Review Assignment

To reassign the application to a different reviewer, follow the steps in ➡️Reassign Declined Review Assignments. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

• What if a reviewer reports a conflict by mistake?

  • You can’t undo a conflict of interest response, but you can:
     

    • Give the application back to the same reviewer: Remove the reviewer from the application, then assign them to it again manually. Declined assignments can be removed, even though they aren’t “Not Started” or “Opened.” For steps, see ➡️Unassign (Remove) a Reviewer from an Application and ➡️ Assign Reviewers Manually.
       
    • Assign a different reviewer: See ➡️Reassign Declined Review Assignments.
       
• What happens to this setting when I duplicate a cycle?

  • Each review round keeps its setting from the original cycle. After duplicating, check that each round is set the way you want.
     

• Can I change this setting after the cycle is published?

  • Yes. You can turn the conflict of interest question on or off for a review round at any time.
     

Related Articles

➡️Feedback Types and Setup in a Review Round
➡️Set Up a Review Round
➡️Assign Reviewers Manually
➡️Reassign Declined Review Assignments

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