4

I submitted a paper to an Elsevier journal in mathematics, which is right now in "decision in process". The status changed in the following manner:

Submitted to journal----(after 1 day)--->with Editor----(after 8 days)-->under review-----(after 15 days)-->decision in process.

But there was an intermediate stage ("required reviews completed") between "under review" and "decision in process", which was not followed.

What does this mean? Is it a bad sign?

Improve this question
8
  • 6
    Have a bit of patience. Why are you reading tea leaves when you'll find out soon enough anyways, and nothing you can do now can affect it, and the decision doesn't affect anything you'll do in the meantime?
    – Alexander Woo
    Commented Apr 17, 2021 at 23:33
  • 6
    Does this answer your question? How much time does each stage of paper in Elsevier Editorial System (EES) take?
    – GoodDeeds
    Commented Apr 17, 2021 at 23:52
  • @GoodDeeds, no that doesn't answer my question. Because my question concerns about an intermediate step wasn't followed
    – learner
    Commented Apr 18, 2021 at 7:56
  • 1
    @m123, in mathematics it is unlikely to have a good news with quick (1 month or less) review process.
    – learner
    Commented Sep 27, 2023 at 22:05
  • 1
    @m123, in my case all procedures were followed and i got proper review report. Unfortunately, It was a journal quality vs paper quality issue. Still the report was very positive for me as the reviewer gave some ideas to make it more interesting. So to answer your questions, when it is "under review" status for short time (more than 1 week but less than a month), the article should be in the hand of referee indeed..
    – learner
    Commented Sep 28, 2023 at 17:40

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6

Manuscripts move from "Under review" to "Required Reviews Complete" when all the necessary reviews to make a decision have arrived. This is usually journal-dependent, e.g. some journals can move the status when one review has been submitted, while others might ask for 2 or 3 or more. Manuscripts move from "Required Reviews Complete" to "Decision in Progress" when the editor's ready to make a decision.

In this case you didn't see "Required Reviews Complete", which could mean:

  • Editor decided to make a decision before all the reviews have arrived. This could be for all sorts of reasons, e.g. the status moves when 2 reviews have arrived, but only one reviewer submitted a review and the editor's making a decision anyway. Or the editor decided to terminate the review process on the strength of that one review. Etc.
  • Editor "got to" the manuscript before you did. In other words, there really was a "required reviews complete" status, but the editor was monitoring the journal at the time and moved the manuscript along before you saw the status change.

In all cases there's nothing to do except wait.

Improve this answer
0

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .