Decline reasons are the choices reviewers see when they decline a review, such as "Conflict of interest" or "Lack of expertise." You manage one account-wide list in Rhythm. Every space uses that same list, and each round can offer all reasons or a selected subset.
Prerequisites
- Your account needs the Submissions & Reviews application. Without it, the decline-reasons setup area is not available.
- To manage the account-wide list of decline reasons, you need the Submissions Administrator policy (
submissions:admin:reviewer-decline-reasons:*). The day-to-day Submissions user policy does not include this access. - To allow reviewers to decline and choose which reasons a round offers, you need
submissions:user:review-rounds:*on the round.
Where to Find It
Manage the account-wide list at Setup › Reviews › Decline Reasons. To allow declines for a specific round, or to limit the reasons that round offers, go to Spaces › Setup › Reviews › Rounds and create or edit the round.
The Settings
| Setting | Where | Options | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name: | Decline reason record | Any text | Empty (required) | The reason reviewers see when they decline. Names do not need to be unique, so two reasons can have the same name |
| ID: | Decline reason record | Generated from the name, editable only when you create the reason | Generated | Becomes permanent after you save and cannot be changed later |
| Status: | Decline reason record | Active / Inactive | Active | Controls whether the reason is available for new declines |
| Allow reviewers to decline reviews | Round | On/Off | Off | Controls whether reviewers in this round see a decline option |
| Acceptable reasons | Round | A list of decline reasons, or blank for all | Blank (every active reason offered) | Limits which reasons reviewers in this round can choose |
Creating or Renaming a Reason
- Go to Setup › Reviews › Decline Reasons and select Create Reviewer Decline Reason.
- Enter a Name. The ID fills in from the name as you type. You can change it before you save the reason for the first time, but not after.
- Leave Status set to Active if you want to offer the reason right away. Set it to Inactive if you are not ready to use it yet.
- Save.
Warning
The identifier check beside ID warns you when a matching identifier already exists, but it does not stop you from saving. If you see the warning and save anyway, check afterward that you did not accidentally create a reason with a duplicate identifier.
Allowing Declines and Narrowing Reasons in a Round
- Open the round at Spaces › Setup › Reviews › Rounds.
- Turn on Allow reviewers to decline reviews.
- Optionally, choose one or more reasons under the acceptable-reasons list. Leave it blank to offer every active reason in your account, or choose specific reasons to offer only those reasons.
- Save the round.
Result
Reviewers in this round see a decline option with every active reason, or only the reasons you chose.
Warning
Declining is offered only to a reviewer who has their own reviewer record for the submission, such as through round-robin or manual assignment. A reviewer who covers a bucket automatically through a team assignment does not see a decline option, even when the round allows declines.
Deactivating or Deleting a Reason
| Action | Effect on future declines | Effect on past declines |
|---|---|---|
| Deactivate (set Status to Inactive) | No longer offered as a choice | Kept exactly as recorded |
| Delete | Removed entirely | The reason's name stays on past declines that used it |
Warning
Deleting a reason does not check whether any round still lists it as an acceptable reason. The deletion happens immediately, even if a round still refers to that reason, and nothing flags the mismatch. To retire a reason without risking that issue, deactivate it instead of deleting it; deactivating never breaks a round's list.
Permissions
Creating, renaming, deactivating, and deleting reasons in the account-wide list require the Submissions Administrator policy. Turning on declines and limiting a round's acceptable reasons is a round-level change that uses the review rounds permission instead, so a day-to-day Submissions user can typically configure that part without administrator access to the reason list.
Validation and Errors
A reason's Name is required, so you cannot save a reason with a blank name. If you restrict a round's acceptable reasons and save an empty selection instead of leaving the whole field out, Rhythm refuses the round. To offer every active reason, remove the restriction rather than saving an empty list.