Create and use review processes

Review processes in Benchling streamline the validation and approval of entries, worksheets, and Studies ensuring data integrity and compliance. By configuring review processes, teams can enforce standardized workflows, assign the right reviewers, and maintain a clear audit trail of approvals. There are several types of entry review: 

• Self-review: Authors review and complete their entries in a single stage
• Parallel review: Reviewers can complete stages in any order
• Sequential review: Reviewers must complete review stages according to specified order in the review process configuration

This guide will walk you through setting up and using entry reviews effectively.

Set up a new review process

Creating a review process lets you define the stages, sequence, and reviewers involved in validating entries and worksheets. Once assigned to a project, the review process is automatically applied to all entries and worksheets within that project. To create a new review process:

1. Click your avatar in the navigation bar and select Feature Settings

2. Under Review Settings, click Review Processes

   
   

3. Click Create in the top-right corner

4. Select Organization: Choose the organization the review process will apply to
5. Select the Type of Review Process

Self-review process

1. Name the Review Process: This name appears in project settings when selecting a review process. Use a clear, descriptive title
2. Reviewer Type: For self-review processes, the reviewer is automatically set to the author of the entry or review initiator of the worksheet
3. Action Label: The label on the button the reviewer clicks to complete the stage
4. Completion Status: Defines the status of the entry or worksheet once the review is complete

Parallel and Sequential review process:

For these types of review processes, you need to define the individual stages. For each stage, configure the following:

1. Review Stage Name: A descriptive name for the stage, referenced in entries, audit logs, and exports (e.g., Peer Review, Team Lead, QC Review)
2. Reviewer: The pool of users the author can select from when sending an entry for review. Options include authors, teams, or project collaborators
3. Reassignable: Allows team member reviewers to reassign the review to another team member or themselves (only available for team-based stages)
4. Author Review: Determines whether authors can be selected as reviewers for team or collaborator stages. For items without an explicit author (such as worksheets), this applies to the review sender. Always enabled for Author review stages
5. Sender Review: Determines whether the review sender (the person who starts the review) can also be selected as a reviewer. If the sender is also the author and Author Review is not enabled, the sender will not appear in the reviewer list
6. Action Label: The button label reviewers click to complete the stage (e.g., Approve, Witness)
7. Definition: Text shown to reviewers when completing a stage. Use this to clarify the meaning of the signature or link to related documents/policies
8. Completion Status: Defines the status of the entry or worksheet once the review process is complete
9. Click Save

Note: once saved, review processes cannot be deleted, if you need to stop using a review process, you can remove the process from Project Settings.

Assign review processes to a project: Entries and Worksheets

Once you’ve created a review process, you’ll need to assign it to the relevant projects for it to become active. Assigning a review process ensures that every entry within the project follows a defined review path, helping maintain quality control and consistency.

When using a review process for Bioprocess, the process assigned to the project will automatically apply to all worksheets in studies created from that project. Be sure to start the study from the correct project, as worksheets cannot be moved once created.

To assign a review process to a project

1. Navigate to the project that will use the review process
2. Click the gear icon and select Project Settings
3. Under Review Process, select the appropriate review process from the dropdown menu
4. (Optional) Assign multiple review processes if needed
5. Click Save

Note: assigning a review process removes the Auditor checkboxes from the Manage Collaborators section. Also, when making changes to the Review process selection you may see a warning notifying you that any In "Needs Review" entries will need to be resent for review. 

Use the entry review process

After a review process is assigned to a project, authors can initiate the review flow for their entries (or worksheets, for Bioprocess users). Sending an entry for review formalizes the approval process and signals that the entry is ready for validation by reviewers.

To send an entry for review

1. Open the Notebook entry
2. Click the entry status in the header and select Send for Review

Self-Review Review Processes manifest as a single-click approval that will show up as a direct option under Send for Review. This will directly close out a Reviewable

1. In the pop-up window, select the appropriate review process (if multiple are available)
    

4. Tag the reviewer(s) for each stage

5. Click Send for Review
6. If Single Sign-On (SSO) is enabled, validate your login credentials to complete the submission

After submission, the entry status updates to Needs Review, and the entry becomes locked. Authors cannot make further edits until the review is either completed or cancelled/retracted or rejected. Once in this state, reviewers are notified and can iniciate their assigned stages.

Use the worksheet review process

Once all steps in a worksheet are marked as Completed or Skipped, and the Run is marked as Completed, Skipped or Failed, the worksheet can be sent for review. The review processes assigned to the project will then be applied to each worksheet in the study.

Review entries and worksheets and manage review stages

Once an entry or worksheet is submitted for review, it is routed to the designated reviewers. Reviewers are responsible for validating the content, ensuring it meets standards, and completing their assigned stage. Stages can also be reassigned, and entries can be reopened if revisions are needed.

Reviewers can access their assignments in several ways:

• From the Benchling Inbox, under My Reviews
• Via direct links in email notifications
• Through a system-generated notification when it’s their turn to review
• Via the To-Dos Dashboards

Complete an Entry Review

1. Open the entry
2. Click the review badge in the top-right corner to open the review summary
3. Under your assigned review stage, click the action label (e.g., Approve, Witness)
4. In the pop-up window, enter any comments
5. Click Submit
6. If SSO is enabled, validate your login credentials

Reassign a review stage

1. In the review summary, click the silhouette icon next to the reviewer’s name
2. In the pop-up window, remove the current reviewer and select the new reviewer
3. Click Submit

Reopen an entry

1. In the review summary, click Cancel review
2. Optionally, enter a reason for reopening the entry (recommended for context when changes are needed)
3. Click Submit

Note: Reopening an entry unlocks it for editing and resets its status to In Progress.

Complete a worksheet review

The process for completing a worksheet review is the same as for an entry review. Follow the steps outlined above. Worksheets will need to be Completed, Skipped or Failed first before you can send for review.

Assign review processes to Custom Study

For Custom Studies admins can require that the study design be reviewed and approved before the study can proceed to execution. This setting is configured on the Study Schema.

The study design is created in a Notebook entry. The review process follows the same steps as reviewing a regular entry, and the design review must be completed before operators can begin execution of the study.

Permissions and access

Only users with Registry admin permissions can configure review processes under Feature Settings. You can configure multiple stages, assign different reviewers, and control how entities and worksheets move through approval workflows. This ensures your documentation meets internal standards and regulatory requirements.

Reviewers must have at least View permissions on the project. If you're selecting a team, all users on the team must have permissions on the project. (authors, teams, or project collaborators)

A user is considered a potential reviewer when they have Edit other data enabled in the Notebook access policies.

Frequently asked questions 

Q: Can I delete a review process if I no longer need it?

A: No. Review processes cannot be deleted once created. To deactivate one, remove it from all projects.

Q: Why can't I send my entry for review?

A: Ensure that:

• All required fields in the entry are completed.
• The entry has no errors.
• You are the author of the entry.
• The selected reviewers have the necessary permissions.
• All attachments are checked in.
• All rows in structured tables are submitted.

Q: Can I edit an entry after sending it for review?

A: No. Once an entry is sent for review, it becomes locked to preserve its integrity. To make edits to entry or metadata, you must reopen the entry by canceling the review process.

Q: How do I add auditors for notebook reviews?

A: Navigate to the project settings, enable auditor review, and designate collaborators as auditors. Note that while teams can be set as auditors, individual reviewers must be selected when sending entries for review.

Q: What happens if I reassign a reviewer?

A: After reassigning, the entry must be resent for review to notify the new reviewer and allow them to access the entry. 

Q: Can I have multiple review processes for a single project?

A: Yes. Projects can have multiple review processes, and authors can select the appropriate one when sending entries for review.