A submission management system is a software system that streamlines and eases out the collection, tracking and management

Submission management

The art and science of collecting and managing submissions is called Submission Management. Traditionally, submissions were collected offline i.e. in the form of 'hard' paper files or folders...

 of electronic submission

Electronic submission

An electronic submission refers to a manuscript submitted by electronic means: that is, via e-mail or a web form on the Internet, or on an electronic medium such as a compact disc, a hard disk or a USB flash drive. Traditionally, a manuscript referred to anything that was explicitly "written by hand"...

s. Most submission management systems are web-based and operate in a browser environment, although some may also be shipped in the form of desktop applications too.

A submission management system may be regarded as an application-specific content management system

Content management system

A content management system is a system providing a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based...

. 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

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

Conference Management

Call-for-paper conferences

Academic conference

An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.-Overview:Conferences are usually composed of various...

 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

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

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

SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey is a private American company that enables users to create their own web-survey, using free and enhanced paid products and services. The company's offices are located in Palo Alto, California and Portland, Oregon. The company was founded in 1999 by Ryan and Chris Finley...

 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
  Blackboard Inc.
  Blackboard Inc. is an enterprise software company with its corporate headquarters in Washington, D.C. and is primarily known as a developer of education software, in particular learning management systems. Blackboard was founded by CEO Michael Chasen and chairman Matthew Pittinsky in 1997 and...
  
  : Allows management of course assignments and projects in universities, schools and colleges
• Moodle
  Moodle
  Moodle is a free source e-learning software platform, also known as a Course Management System, Learning Management System, or Virtual Learning Environment...
  
  : An open-source alternative to Blackboard
• Sakai
  Sakai Project
  This page is about the software project, for other meanings, see Sakai.Sakai is a community of academic institutions, commercial organizations and individuals who work together to develop a common Collaboration and Learning Environment...
  
  : 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
  EasyChair
  EasyChair is a free web-based conference management software system used extensively in computer science. It is hosted by the computer science department of the University of Manchester....
  
  : A conference management system similar to EDAS
• Submittable: An online submission management platform used by blogs, publishers, 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
  YouNoodle is a San Francisco-based company providing a networking website for small businesses. It has received particular attention for its "startup predictor", which aims to use mathematical models to predict the success of a new business based on information about its concept, finances, founders...
  
  : YouNoodle provides a submission management platform for business plan
  Business plan
  A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals....
  
  s
• KISSinsights: A web-based survey tool for website owners
• SurveyMonkey
  SurveyMonkey
  SurveyMonkey is a private American company that enables users to create their own web-survey, using free and enhanced paid products and services. The company's offices are located in Palo Alto, California and Portland, Oregon. The company was founded in 1999 by Ryan and Chris Finley...
  
  : A web-based platform to create and manage survey submissions
• Google Forms: An application similar to SurveyMonkey
• FluidSurveys: An online survey management platform with reporting functionality
• ReviewRoom: A do it yourself online application and submission management tool
• Monster Jobs: An online resume and recruitment management system
• Resumazing: An online resume and recruitment management system powered by the Submittable platform

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
  Email
  Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
  
  
• Lack of trust in web-based submission management systems
• Steep learning curve