Q: Can you help me understand the statuses for my journal submission?
I have submitted an article to a SAGE journal. The status first showed as ‘ADM: a person’s name,’ and then as ‘Awaiting Referee Selection.’ What does this mean?
These are relatively simple. The first update, ADM: [a person’s name], means that the manuscript was first in administrative (shortened to ‘ADM’) processing, which is the typical first stage after submission. This refers to the internal check by the journal, for basic aspects such as novelty of the research, quality of the writing, scope match, and adherence to the journal guidelines. The second update, Awaiting Referee Selection, means that the manuscript has completed the internal check and is now awaiting peer review. (‘Referee’ is another term for ‘peer reviewer.’) So, great, that’s one step cleared in the submission/publication process!
As you’ll probably have to deal with the review comments next, it may help to prepare yourself by going through these related articles:
- How to respond to comments by peer reviewers
- Do's and don'ts for responding to peer reviewers' comments
Hope that helps. All the best for the next stages!
