# Roles & Permissions

Alfred Scholar uses a role-based permission system to control what each workspace member can do. This ensures that sensitive actions (like deleting the workspace or managing members) are restricted to the right people.

## Available roles

Every workspace member has one of the following roles:

| Role | Description |
|------|-------------|
| **Owner** | Full control over the workspace, including managing members and deleting the workspace. The person who creates a workspace is automatically its owner. |
| **Colleague** | Can use all research features - uploading documents, writing manuscripts, managing citations, using AI chat, and running plagiarism checks. Cannot delete items or manage workspace members. |
| **Reviewer** | Limited access for peer review purposes. Can view specific manuscripts assigned for review and leave comments. Cannot access the broader research library or other workspace features. |

## Permission breakdown

Here is a detailed breakdown of what each role can do:

### My Documents

| Action | Owner | Colleague | Reviewer |
|--------|:-----:|:---------:|:--------:|
| Upload documents | Yes | Yes | No |
| View documents | Yes | Yes | No |
| Edit document metadata | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete documents | Yes | No | No |
| Organize folders | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete folders | Yes | No | No |
| Annotate documents | Yes | Yes | No |

### Manuscripts

| Action | Owner | Colleague | Reviewer |
|--------|:-----:|:---------:|:--------:|
| Create manuscripts | Yes | Yes | No |
| Edit manuscripts | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete manuscripts | Yes | No | No |
| Add images | Yes | Yes | No |
| Apply guidelines | Yes | Yes | No |
| Assign reviewers | Yes | No | No |
| View assigned reviews | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Leave review comments | Yes | Yes | Yes |

### Citations

| Action | Owner | Colleague | Reviewer |
|--------|:-----:|:---------:|:--------:|
| Add citations | Yes | Yes | No |
| Edit citations | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete citations | Yes | No | No |
### Ask Alfred

| Action | Owner | Colleague | Reviewer |
|--------|:-----:|:---------:|:--------:|
| Start new chats | Yes | Yes | No |
| View chat history | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete chats | Yes | No | No |

### Plagiarism Check

| Action | Owner | Colleague | Reviewer |
|--------|:-----:|:---------:|:--------:|
| Run plagiarism checks | Yes | Yes | No |
| View reports | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete reports | Yes | No | No |

### Settings

| Action | Owner | Colleague | Reviewer |
|--------|:-----:|:---------:|:--------:|
| Update workspace name | Yes | Yes | No |
| Invite members | Yes | No | No |
| Remove members | Yes | No | No |
| Change member roles | Yes | No | No |
| View billing & usage | Yes | Yes | No |
| Delete workspace | Yes | No | No |

### Trash

| Action | Owner | Colleague | Reviewer |
|--------|:-----:|:---------:|:--------:|
| View trash | Yes | Yes | No |
| Restore items | Yes | Yes | No |
| Permanently delete | Yes | No | No |

## Changing a member's role

Only workspace **owners** can change roles:

1. Go to **Settings** > **Members**.
2. Find the member.
3. Click the role dropdown and select the new role.

> **Note:** You cannot change the owner's role. To transfer ownership, contact support.

## Best practices

- **Use the Reviewer role** for external peer reviewers who only need to review specific manuscripts. This prevents them from accessing your full research library.
- **Use the Colleague role** for active research collaborators who need to upload papers, manage citations, and write manuscripts.
- **Keep the Owner role** for the primary researcher or lab lead who manages the workspace and team.

## Next steps

- **[Invite team members](/docs/v1.x/team-members)** to your workspace.
- **[Start uploading documents](/docs/v1.x/uploading-documents)** to build your research library.