Review a manuscript with comments

Anchor questions to source, discuss them with coauthors, resolve decisions, and keep review separate from editing.

Comments let a reviewer discuss a passage without changing its source. Each thread is anchored to a text range and moves with nearby collaborative edits, making it suitable for questions about a claim, method, equation, or caption.

Give the reviewer the right access#

Share the relevant project, folder, file, or selection of files with the Commenter role when the person should read and discuss but not edit. A commenter link requires sign-in. Include every file needed to understand the passage; access to one .tex file does not silently grant its figures, bibliography, or included sections.

Use Viewer when no discussion is needed and Editor only when the person should change covered source. Share a project explains the complete role and scope boundary.

Start a focused thread#

Select the smallest passage that gives the question context. In the floating Selection actions bar choose Add comment, write the requested decision, and choose Comment. The new thread opens on that source range and also appears under Comments in the sidebar. For example:

Does this confidence interval use the bootstrap analysis described in methods.tex, or the parametric sensitivity analysis?

A precise question is easier to resolve than “please check.” Refer to evidence, the relevant file, or the venue requirement without pasting sensitive material that the recipient cannot otherwise access.

Reply, revise, and resolve#

Open Comments in the sidebar to review unresolved threads across accessible files. Choose a thread to open its file and anchored passage. Enter a response in Reply… and choose Reply when the decision needs a record. If an editor changes the source, confirm that the anchor still covers the intended passage and that the compiled or rendered result is correct.

Choose Resolve when the question has been answered and any agreed source change is present. Select Show resolved, open the thread, and choose Reopen if later edits invalidate the decision. Authors can choose Delete comment for their own entry, but deletion removes context; prefer resolution when the discussion remains useful to coauthors.

Comment updates synchronize with the same real-time document as the source. When the workspace is offline, keep the tab open and wait for the Offline state to clear before assuming that a remote reply is missing or closing the review. Email notifications are best effort, so the Comments sidebar is the authority for the current thread state.

Close a review milestone#

Before accepting many requested edits, save a named version. When the review is complete, check that no unresolved thread blocks the submission, compile the main document, and save another named version that identifies the review round. Success means each decision is either resolved with corresponding source or deliberately left open with an owner and next action. Save that review boundary with Version history before starting the next revision round.