Microsoft CMT

What Microsoft CMT is

Microsoft CMT is a free web-based system for managing academic and scientific peer review conferences. It supports the submission process from abstracts and full papers through supplementary files, revisions, camera-ready materials, and presentations. Organizers can configure independent tracks and customize forms, including question visibility. Roles include chairs, senior meta-reviewers, meta-reviewers, reviewers, authors, and proceedings editors. Reviewer assignment can be manual or automatic, and the system integrates with the Toronto Paper Matching System. Collaboration features include paper bidding, reviewer suggestions, threaded discussion, virtual program committee meetings, and author rebuttals. CMT allows unlimited uploads, with a maximum file size of 100 MB, and supports PDF, DOCX, audio, video, and other file types. Conference data can be exported to Excel, XML, or CSV. CMT runs on Microsoft Azure with data geo-replicated across data centers. It also includes a schedule builder and an IEEE eCopyright workflow. After a conference ends, its data is removed and is no longer available. A site request requires at least one chair with a current, valid university email that is not a student or alumni address; creation can take up to 72 hours.

Who it suits

CMT suits academic and scientific conference organizers managing peer review, submissions, and conference workflows. Its roles support chairs, reviewers, authors, and proceedings editors.

Limits

The free plan is listed as free. Uploads are unlimited, but each file can be no larger than 100 MB. CMT removes conferences after they end, after which their data is no longer available.

Getting started

1. Visit the CMT website.
2. Request a conference site with at least one chair who has a current, valid university email address that is not a student or alumni address.
3. Allow up to 72 hours for site creation.
4. Configure tracks, forms, roles, and review stages for the conference.

Verdict

CMT covers configurable peer-review workflows, collaboration, and conference scheduling at no listed cost. Organizers should account for its post-conference data removal policy and site-request requirements.