Q: Delay in decision after "Decision in Process"
I submitted a manuscript in the special edition of a reputed journal. After two months its status changed to "Required reviews submitted". After two more days, it changed back to "Under review". Is it perhaps because the Editor was not satisfied with the reviews? After 50 days the status again changed to "Required reviews completed" and the next day it was "Decision in process". The status remained the same for 15 days. I contacted the editor. The reply was "This special edition is under investigation and some formalities. It will take 2-3 months for this". What should I do now?
Decision in Process means that the associate editor has gone through the peer review comments, arrived at a decision on the manuscript based on the comments, and then conveyed their decision to the Editor-in-Chief. After that, the EIC takes a call on whether you need to revise and resubmit or your article is rejected.
However, in the case of special editions of journals, the final decision by the EIC can take longer. The editor may first want to review ALL the other submissions for the special issue, compare them, and decide which ones qualify for publication, thus increasing the time taken for a decision.
Since your editor has already responded to your query and given a rough estimate of 2-3 months, it would be advisable to wait. However, if you’ve not received a decision within the stipulated time, you may send another inquiry to the journal. Alternatively, you can withdraw your submission, but there is no guarantee that it will take lesser time elsewhere.
Hope that helps. We hope the journal arrives at a decision sooner!
This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage