Recalling a Review Pack

What Recall Does

Recall takes a pack back from a reviewer and undoes the send. The pack returns to exactly the state it was in before you sent it, the reviewer loses access, and you can make your changes and send it again.

There is one rule that decides everything: you can recall a pack until the reviewer opens it. After that, recall is unavailable, because taking the pack back could throw away feedback they have already started writing.

Recall or Send Back

ReportRocket works out which of these applies and shows you the right dialog, so you do not need to guess.

Recalling a Pack

You can start a recall from two places: the Recall Pack button on the pack itself, or the actions menu next to the pack on your Review Packs page.

If the reviewer has not opened it, you get a Safe to recall dialog confirming that the pack goes back to exactly how it was before you sent it. Confirm, and it returns to you straight away. The reviewer is emailed to let them know the pack has been withdrawn.

Recall is a good option when:

• The reviewer is unavailable or on leave
• The pack went to the wrong person
• You have spotted something you want to change before the review starts

When Recall Is Unavailable

If the reviewer has already opened the pack, you get a different dialog: Ask your reviewer to send it back, with the reason spelled out. There is no override, and no way to force it through. This is deliberate. Once a reviewer has the pack open, their annotations save as they work, and recalling would discard them.

What to do instead:

1. Message your reviewer and let them know the pack needs to come back
2. They open the pack and use Send Back for Changes, adding an overall comment
3. The pack returns to you as Returned, with everything they had written so far

That path is usually better anyway. You keep the partial feedback rather than losing it.

What Happens to Your Pack

A recall reverses the most recent send for review, and only that:

• The pack goes back to the status it had before you sent it, usually Draft
• The reports become editable again
• The round number goes back down, so re-sending does not over-count the rounds
• The reviewer's access is removed and their pending assignment is cancelled
• The recall is written into the pack's review history, so there is a record of what happened

Feedback from earlier completed rounds is untouched. Recall only unwinds the send that is currently in progress.

Getting an Approved Pack Back

Recall applies to packs that are out with a reviewer. If a pack has already been approved and you need to change something, use Reopen Pack on the pack instead. That moves it back to draft and unlocks its reports, and the full review history is kept.

Best Practices

Before sending. Check which reports you are including and that they are ready. The pre-send check tells you if anything is missing.

When recalling. Let your reviewer know, especially if they have it in their queue for that afternoon. A quick message avoids the pack disappearing on them with no explanation.

When re-sending. Give them a fresh deadline. From their side, the pack arrives as new work.

Next Steps

• Creating Review Packs
• Reviewing reports as a colleague
• Using One-Click Revisions