Q: Should I write to the editor about updating the status of my submission (from archived to review)?
Hi. I submitted a paper to a journal via Open Journal Systems (OJS). After two months, I received a decline decision from the editor (citing a similarity of 35%). I sent an email to the editor to clarify that I had checked the paper [for plagiarism] before submitting. Then, the similarity was 26%. (They need it to be below 30%.) After three days, I received another email from the editor informing me that they have sent my paper for review, but the paper has remained at the ‘archive with decline’ status. What should I do? Should I recontact the editor to get more information or is it normal to be at this status? Best regards.
Hi Disli! Welcome to the forum and thanks for all the details you have provided. It’s easier to provide guidance this way. :-)
I see that both you and the journal/editor have been doing due diligence with the submission and have also been quite responsive with each other. In such a situation, it should be quite okay to write in to them checking about the status. This ‘Archive with Decline’ status is probably for an earlier version of the manuscript (in case you have sent two). The ‘Archive/d’ status typically means that the manuscript is no longer active in the system, because it’s been accepted, rejected, or replaced by a new version. You may learn more about this status description here:
- What does the manuscript status "archived" mean?
- What does it mean if 'Archive' appears as the status on the author's homepage after submitting an article?
So, the editor (or their team) may have either forgotten to update the status (indicating that it’s been sent for review) or haven’t yet gotten around to doing so. Your mail may provide them a nudge to do so. :-) So, go right ahead. If needed, you may refer to the following resources for writing to the editor about an update:
- How to write an email to the editor inquiring about the current status of my paper?
- How to write to the journal editor inquiring about the status of my paper
All the best for the next stage(s)!
Thank you for all your recommandation, i have sent à message to editor following your recommandation,
I hav'nt receive any responce from editor.
Hi Disli! Great that you decided to write to the editor. However, going by the date of your response, you sent the mail today, which is the weekend. You should wait until next week at least (even mid-week) for a response. Also, keep checking your Spam / Junk folder to ensure the mail isn't going there. Thanks for keeping us updated, and do keep us updated on future progress as well. All the best again!. :-)
Hi, i have sent another message to editors asking them if i can worry about the situation of my paper .
I received this réponse "No".
Great. :-) I guess they will update the status when it comes back from the review. So, you can wait for the review and see if the status changes. In case the review takes long, you can send a mail requesting an update, as you have been doing. It's important to keep following up with the editor, but of course, without pestering. :-) Also, keep all emails saved for future reference if needed. Until then, all the best for the review!
Hi;It's been exactly three months, so far there is no status update, the status remain in the archive, should i contact the editor; can you you can recommend me an email template
Hi Disli. Good to hear from you again on this, though the news doesn’t seem to be good. :-/ This entire situation seems to be a bit peculiar – the move to Archived, then a response not to worry, and then, nothing for three months. We would suggest moving forward in either/both of two ways.
Firstly, sure, you can (in fact, you must) write to the editor again seeking an update. For templates, you may refer to the handbook linked at the end of this response. Note that it’s a paid resource, but it would surely help you for future communication as well, as it has different templates for different requests.
Then, either in the same mail or the next one, request to withdraw the paper. It’s been too long, and if there continues to be no or slow response from this journal, it’s better to withdraw from here and submit elsewhere. This time, don’t wait for such a long interval. Write every week or 10 days or so. If you still don’t hear from them, mail them saying that if you don’t hear from them about the withdrawal, you will consider the manuscript withdrawn. You can then submit elsewhere. For which, you can also start making presubmission inquiries to other journals from now.
Keep a time limit of about a month to complete these actions. Basically, in a month, if there is no or slow action from this journal, you should have submitted to another journal. :-)
For more information on the various points discussed above, you may refer to the following resources:
- A practical handbook of templates for communicating with the journal [Paid]
- Should I withdraw my paper if the journal is taking unusually long to process?
- Writing a presubmission inquiry
All the best for the best way forward!!
HI, I sent an e-mail to the editor t received an e-mail " Dear author, your paper has been rejected on 19 may 2020 " after two minutes i received another e mail from editor "sry, i wil fix the sratus at under review ASAP". but the status remain at the archive with declined status
I can't uderstand this situation. What does it mean under review ASAP
Best regards
'ASAP' stands for 'as soon as possible.' 'Under Review' means either the internal review or the external review. In this case, it possibly means the external (peer) review. It seems the editor has realized their error and intended to fix it, but it's obviously still not happened. Again, as we said earlier, see if this changes within a few days. If not, mail them asking them to withdraw the paper. There has been too much confusion here already. So, it may be best to withdraw from here and submit elsewhere.
Hello,
the status my paper has change today from "archive" to "review: Round 1 Status Waiting for reviewers to be assigned. 0/0 ". It's been a long time since I've been submited my paper for 5 months.
do you advise me to withdraw from now or should i wait another month
best regards
You can wait for a month, as you have yourself suggested. In case the reviewers are not assigned within a month, you can withdraw. What you could do now is to write to the editor thanking them for finally changing the status from Archived to For Review. You could add that you hope the review is now expedited to make up for the long delay. All the best!
This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage