Q: What does a status change from "Editor Assigned" to "Editor Invited" mean?
I have submitted my manuscript to Springer. After one month of submission, the status of my manuscript changed to “Editor Assigned.” But after two weeks, the status changed to “Editor Invited.” And the status has been “Editor Invited” for approximately one month now. What does it mean?
The status “Editor Assigned” means that your paper was assigned to an Associate Editor (AE) who would be responsible for your manuscript till the first decision. However, the change of status from “Editor Assigned” to “Editor Invited” indicates that the assigned editor has declined the request to handle your paper. Possible reasons for this could be that the editor is too busy with other work or he/s she has a conflict of interest with your paper. The journal has sent out invitation to another editor and once the new editor accepts the request to handle your paper, the status will change back to “Editor Assigned.” This process might take a while, but don't worry, this is quite normal. If the status of your manuscript does not change in another few weeks, you can send a polite inquiry to the journal asking about the status of your manuscript.
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This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage