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How does Submittable check for submission files that may contain viruses?
How does Submittable check for submission files that may contain viruses?

Submissions with files 400mb or less are scanned for viruses when the submission is received.

Pam English avatar
Written by Pam English
Updated over a week ago

When your organization receives a submission with files attached, all files of sizes 400mb or less are automatically scanned for potential computer viruses. If Submittable detects a potential virus in a submitted file, you will see a warning when you attempt to open the submission.

No need to panic. This doesn't mean your computer has been affected in any way, just that a submission file (stored online) may contain a virus.
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When a submission contains a suspicious file, we recommend contacting the submitter by opening the submission for editing. When you do this, you can add an accompanying message indicating the title of the bad file (file titles will remain available) and asking them to replace it with a clean file version while the submission is open for editing.
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If a potential virus is detected, the suspected file will not open from the Submission Details page. However, if you want to access the file despite the warning, the submission and any associated files can still be downloaded using the export feature.
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Occasionally you may open a submission and see that a virus scan is in progress. Submissions are scanned immediately when they come in, so this will only occur if you open a submission as soon as it is received. If this happens, you will see the following message:
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Note: When virus scanning is in progress, you will not be able to view submission files. Wait a moment then reopen the submission and it will be visible after the scan is complete (as long as no corruptions are detected).

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