Q: What does it mean if my submission to Elsevier has been Decision in Process from Day 1?

As you may have got a sense, a manuscript being in or going into Decision in Process from Day 1 usually does not augur well. This typically happens for any or all of the following reasons: the manuscript does not match the journal aims and scope (or criteria, as you have said), may not be novel enough (according to the journal), or its writing/presentation may not be up to the standard of the journal (which in the case of an Elsevier journal is quite high).

While Decision in Process usually leads to a desk rejection, that may not always be the case. If it’s a matter of a scope match and the publisher is large enough (which is the case here) to have another journal in the family that offers a better fit, they may suggest transferring the manuscript there. At times, if they feel it needs a lot of rework but are willing to reconsider it, they may go for a reject-and-resubmit decision. If of course it’s an outright reject decision, you may consider submitting to some other journal, after making any changes to the paper based on any feedback you receive from here.

One more point. Note that this initial decision is by the Associate/Managing Editor (AE/ME), as the case may be. The AE/ME refers their decision to the Editor-in-Chief (EIC), who may very will overturn (rescind) the AE/ME’s decision and decide to send the paper for peer review. So, as you see, there is some hope. :)

As it’s been more than five weeks since submission, and you’d like to see some progress on your paper, either here or somewhere else, you should write to the journal requesting an update. You should do this as early as possible because the main holiday season is approaching and journals will likely take longer to respond during this period, if they do respond.

Speaking of which, you may also take this time to review your paper and see what are the possible ways in which you can improve it to help it clear desk screening. To help you along, we have provided some resources below that cover the various aspects.

To understand and avoid some basic reasons for journal rejection, you may find it worthwhile to go through these resources:

• Most common reasons for journal rejection
• Tips to avoid journal rejection

If it’s a matter of getting the various submission criteria right, you may wish to know about R Pubsure. It’s an AI-powered manuscript assessment tool (by a sister brand) that runs your manuscript through various checks (in minutes) and gives you a report that you can use to improve your manuscript from various aspects – language, structure, references, and requirements (such as authorship, declarations, and copyright) – with the aim to clear the desk screening. The Professional version comes with an additional plagiarism check and a downloadable Word file that allows you to make the changes in minutes. You may learn more about the tool here: R Pubsure (You may view a sample report here.)

And finally, if you think the manuscript can be improved through review and editing, you may of course wish to consider our range of editing services here. :)

Hope all that helps. All the best for whatever’s next!