Is it possible that the editor is still looking for other reveiwers while one reviewer has submitted the reviewer report? [duplicate]

Question

I submitted my manuscript in April 2024, and it was sent out for review 10 days later. As this is an Elsevier journal, I can track the progress of the peer review. More than two review invitations were sent, but only one reviewer accepted the invitation to review in May. Now, at the end of June, that reviewer has submitted their report.

Is it possible that the editor is still looking for other reviewers while one reviewer has already submitted their review report? Does this mean that I will have to wait longer to receive the editorial decision?

Can anyone kindly share their experiences on this? Thank you!

Answer 1

Yes

There's no reason why it's impossible. For example, the first reviewer could simply have been very fast, possibly because they just happened to be free when the invitation arrived. Alternatively, the journal has a hard requirement of two reviews per paper, and since there's only one review so far they are still looking for a second reviewer.

Does this mean that I will have to wait longer to receive the editorial decision?

If your journal has a hard requirement of two reviews per paper, then the answer to this is "yes". If it doesn't have such a requirement, there's no way to predict - the first review might be comprehensive enough that the editor is comfortable with making a decision; equally, it might be poor enough that the editor is not comfortable with making a decision.

Answer 2

I am an Associate Editor at the International Journal of Forecasting, and yes, this can absolutely happen. Unfortunately, potential reviewers are sometimes not very good about even replying whether they will even do the review.

So it could absolutely be the case that your AE has asked three people, one answered and even already sent in the review, but the two others never bothered to accept or decline the request. After some time, the AE asked two more people. One accepted but has not yet sent anything in. The other one again never reacted, so the AE is still looking for one reviewer. And if the accepted-but-not-yet-reviewed reviewer is really late, then the AE might already be on the lookout for a replacement for them.

So yes, this situation can unfortunately happen, and there is very little the author can do here... and not much more the AE can do.

Answer 3

Yes, it is certainly possible that the editor is seeking another reviewer (or reviewers). If the received review is equivocal in any way the editor may not be ready to make a decision.

You can ask the editor about progress outside the tracking system if you have an email address. In many fields, April - June is a pretty short time period for a decision.