Once a reviewer submits their feedback on a submission, it's treated as final — Dapple warns reviewers clearly before they submit. If a reviewer makes a mistake, an admin can reopen it: open the submission, find the reviewer's feedback card, click the three-dot menu, and select Unsubmit. This moves the review back to In Review in both the admin view and the reviewer's own dashboard, removing it from their Submitted tab. The reviewer can then edit their scores, votes, or comments and resubmit when ready.
Why would I need to unsubmit a review?
Reviewer submissions are locked once sent — that's by design, so scoring stays fair and auditable. But mistakes happen: a reviewer scores the wrong criterion, votes the opposite of what they meant, or submits before finishing their comments.
Unsubmit exists for exactly this. Rather than asking a reviewer to raise it with you and hoping you can patch the record manually, you reopen their specific review so they can fix it themselves and resubmit properly.
A reviewer flags they made a scoring error after submitting.
A reviewer votes or scores the wrong submission by mistake.
Feedback was submitted incomplete and needs finishing.
You want a reviewer to reconsider after new information comes to light (e.g. a plagiarism flag).
How do I unsubmit a reviewer's feedback?
Unsubmit works on one reviewer's feedback at a time, not the whole panel.
Open the submission and go to its review breakdown.
Find the individual reviewer's review in the submission itself.
Click the three-dot menu on that card.
Select Unsubmit.
The card's status changes from Submitted back to In Review, and the review reopens for editing.
What happens after I unsubmit a review?
Unsubmitting reopens that one reviewer's feedback without deleting anything they'd already entered.
Where | Before unsubmit | After unsubmit |
Submission's review breakdown (admin) | Card shows Submitted, with the reviewer's final score/vote | Card shows In Review; score and vote remain visible but are now editable by the reviewer |
Reviewer's dashboard | Review sits in the Submitted tab | Review moves back to the In Review tab |
Panel or stage totals | Included in Complete count and average score | Excluded until the reviewer resubmits |
The reviewer's original scores, votes, and comments stay in place — Unsubmit reopens the form for editing, it doesn't clear it. They edit what needs to change and submit again.
What does the reviewer see when I unsubmit their feedback?
The review disappears from the reviewer's Submitted tab and reappears in their In Review tab, exactly where it sat before they first submitted. They can select Open on it, make changes to their scores, votes, or comments, and use Submit Completed to send it back once they're done.
What's the difference between Unsubmit and Decline?
Both actions remove a review from the finished/counted state, but they mean different things and are used in different situations.
Use Unsubmit when… | Use Decline when… |
The reviewer already submitted feedback and it needs correcting | The reviewer hasn't started, or shouldn't review this submission at all |
You want to keep their existing scores/comments as a starting point | There's a conflict of interest or capacity issue |
Triggered by an admin, from the submission's review breakdown | Triggered by the reviewer, from their own dashboard |
Best practice for using Unsubmit
Message the reviewer directly when you unsubmit their feedback — don't rely on them noticing it's moved back to In Review.
Use it sparingly. Reviewers see clear warnings before they submit, so repeated corrections on the same panel may point to unclear guidance rather than reviewer error.
Check the Feedback summary (Status, Rubric score, Started/Ended, Time taken) before unsubmitting, so you know exactly what you're reopening.
If several reviewers made the same mistake, review your Guidance tab — a clearer rubric or instructions may prevent it happening again.
Unsubmit the specific reviewer's card only — it doesn't affect other reviewers' completed feedback on the same submission.