Functional requirements of Online Peer Review System with non-functional

Functional Requirements

1. User Registration and Authentication:
   • Allow users (authors, reviewers, editors, administrators) to create and manage accounts with role-based access control.
   • Implement secure authentication methods, including password recovery and multi-factor authentication.
2. Paper Submission and Management:
   • Enable authors to submit papers or manuscripts for review, including uploading documents, providing metadata (title, abstract, keywords), and selecting relevant categories.
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   • Allow authors to track the status of their submissions, including review progress and decisions.
3. Reviewer Assignment:
   • Provide tools for editors to assign reviewers to submitted papers based on their expertise and availability.
   • Allow automated or manual matching of reviewers with submissions.
4. Review Process Management:
   • Facilitate the review process, including submission of review reports, comments, and recommendations.
   • Support multiple rounds of review and revisions, allowing reviewers to update their assessments and feedback.
5. Review Feedback and Decision Making:
   • Allow reviewers to provide feedback and recommend decisions (e.g., accept, revise, reject) on submitted papers.
   • Enable editors to review feedback, make final decisions, and communicate decisions to authors.
6. Editorial Workflow:
   • Support the management of the editorial workflow, including paper tracking, review scheduling, and communication with authors and reviewers.
   • Provide tools for editors to manage deadlines, revisions, and follow-up actions.
7. Document Management:
   • Allow users to upload, store, and manage review-related documents, including submissions, review reports, and correspondence.
   • Support version control for document revisions and updates.
8. Communication and Notifications:
   • Send notifications to users for important events, such as submission deadlines, review assignments, and status updates.
   • Provide messaging functionality for communication between authors, reviewers, and editors.
9. Review Analytics and Reporting:
   • Generate reports and analytics on review metrics, such as review turnaround times, acceptance rates, and reviewer performance.
   • Provide dashboards for tracking submission and review statistics.
10. Conflict of Interest Management:
    • Implement tools for managing conflicts of interest, including disclosure forms and automatic conflict checks based on reviewer and author information.
11. User Access and Permissions:
    • Implement role-based access control to restrict or grant permissions based on user roles (e.g., authors, reviewers, editors, administrators).
    • Allow administrators to manage user roles and permissions.
12. Integration with Academic Databases:
    • Support integration with academic databases and indexing services for seamless data exchange and citation management.
    • Provide APIs and connectors for integrating with other scholarly tools and systems.
13. Data Export and Import:
    • Allow users to export review data, reports, and analytics in various formats (e.g., CSV, Excel, PDF).
    • Support data import for integrating with other systems and tools.

Non-Functional Requirements

1. Scalability:
   • The system should handle increasing numbers of submissions, reviews, and users without performance issues.
   • Support for scaling infrastructure to accommodate growth and peak usage periods.
2. Performance:
   • Ensure fast and responsive interactions, with quick document uploads, review submissions, and data retrieval.
   • Optimize performance to handle large volumes of review data and concurrent users efficiently.
3. Reliability and Availability:
   • Ensure high availability with minimal downtime, supported by redundancy, load balancing, and failover mechanisms.
   • Implement regular backups and disaster recovery procedures to maintain service continuity.
4. Usability:
   • The user interface should be intuitive and user-friendly, accommodating users with varying levels of technical expertise.
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   • Provide a consistent and seamless experience across different devices and platforms.
5. Security:
   • Implement robust security measures to protect user data, review content, and sensitive information, including encryption, secure authentication, and access controls.
   • Protect against unauthorized access, data breaches, and cyber threats.
6. Maintainability:
   • Ensure the system is easy to maintain, with clear documentation, modular design, and support for regular updates and bug fixes.
   • Implement automated monitoring and logging to identify and address issues promptly.
7. Compliance:
   • Ensure the system complies with relevant regulations and standards, such as data protection laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) and academic publishing standards.
   • Provide features to support auditing, data retention, and regulatory reporting requirements.
8. Data Integrity and Accuracy:
   • Ensure that all data collected and processed by the system is accurate, consistent, and up-to-date.
   • Implement validation checks and data integrity mechanisms to prevent errors and data corruption.
9. Localization and Internationalization:
   • Support multiple languages and regional settings to cater to a global user base.
   • Allow easy adaptation of the system to meet local regulations and cultural practices.
10. Accessibility:
    • Ensure that the system is accessible to users with disabilities, following web accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG).
    • Provide features such as screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, and adjustable text sizes.
11. Privacy and Data Ownership:
    • Ensure that users retain ownership of their data and can easily control, access, and delete their information.
    • Provide transparency regarding data usage, sharing, and storage practices, with clear consent mechanisms.