Q: My submission is continuing with the editor in the 13th week since submission. What can be the reason
I submitted my manuscript to a journal under the publishing group Elsevier on 18th Apr 2022. It is with the editor from 19th Apr and is continuing the status after 12 weeks since submission. I have raised queries thrice regarding my status. The latest reply that I received is " The manuscript will be processed in due course". The journal has reported its average time for the first decision as 8 weeks and for the final decision, it is 11.9 weeks. Anything that is ominous about this condition?