Q: What does the status "Decision in process" after a week of submission mean?
1 Answer to this question
Answer:
Normally, a direct change from "With editor" to "Decision in process" implies a desk rejection. You have not mentioned whether your paper has been through any other status before this. However, since it's been only a week since submission, I doubt that the paper has been through peer review. In my opinion, this status change indicates desk rejection. Once a paper is submitted to a journal, it goes through an initial screening process, which is done by the editor. Only a paper that clears this initial screening is sent for peer review; else, it is rejected. This form of rejection (rejection without peer review) is known as desk-rejection.
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This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage
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