Q: Awaiting EIC Decision without assigning reviews. What does it mean?

Dear Author,

Let’s not assume the worst-case scenario. The statuses on submission portals change based on the journal's processes in real-time. The status "Awaiting AE assignment" implies that an editor will be assigned to handle the correspondence of your submitted manuscript. They will be responsible for evaluating the manuscript and checking that its scope matches with that of the journal. If they find the content suitable, the manuscript will be forwarded to the reviewers. And, if they feel it lacks novelty or is not appropriate to be published in the journal, they give their decision against it. In the latter situation, the final decision may lie with the Editor-in-Chief (EIC). But you may never know. If the AE was not assigned at all, then the EIC would be the one to evaluate the manuscript. So, keep up your hope and wait for the status to change to "Under review." Good luck!