Q: Does the notification I received mean it's a desk rejection - or not?

Hi Arpan – welcome back to the forum! Before we dive into this question, it would be great to know how your earlier submission worked out. It would be great to share, either here or there.

Coming to your query, it’s interesting that you received a mail so soon after submission. As the mail states, the manuscript has cleared the initial administrative check, for aspects such as adherence to journal guidelines, basic quality of the science, and match with the journal’s scope. Which is why it has been considered for peer review. The journal is presently looking for suitable peer reviewers for your paper, which you would come to know either through the next mail or by visiting your page on the site. So, quite simply, no, not a desk reject. :-)

There is just one thing though. Most journals take a minimum of a few days after submission to send for peer review. As this has moved to peer review so quickly after submission, and without doubting the quality of the manuscript, it may not hurt to go through the site information in some detail to assess the quality of the journal, that is, to determine whether or not it’s a predatory journal. You may use this checklist as an aid: 10 Point checklist to identify predatory publishers

If the journal seems legitimate indeed, you have nothing to worry about, and need to simply wait for the next mail or status change.

Until then, you may find it useful to go through the following related resources:

• Understanding peer review and editorial decision making at journals
• How to write an email to the editor inquiring about the current status of my paper?
• Keep calm and wait: A guide to understanding journal statuses [Handbook]