Q: Is my revised manuscript being evaluated by the editor instead of being sent to reviewers?
I submitted a manuscript to a journal for the first time. It is a reputed journal, and after 2 months of submission I got ‘Major revisions’. As most of the comments were acceptable, I made sufficient revisions. After 3 weeks, the status changed from “With Editor” to “Decision in Process”. Does this mean that my revised manuscript was evaluated by the editor instead of being sent to a reviewer? If so, was my revision not good? This is my first experience and I am anxious. I would I appreciate if you could advise me.
When a revised manuscript is submitted to a journal, it is first evaluated by the editor to check if most of the revisions suggested by reviewers have been made. If the editor feels that the paper needs to be reviewed once again, it is sent back to the reviewers who initially reviewed the manuscript. However, it is a call that the editor takes once he/she has taken a look at the revisions.
Generally speaking, for major revisions, most editors send the paper for a second round of review. However, it is possible that the editor was able to assess all the revisions and arrive at a decision without requiring the reviewers’ inputs. It is not possible to comment on the decision arrived at by the editor since it will be entirely at his/her discretion.
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This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage