Q: What does the status '3 Reviewer(s) accepted' mean after the resubmission of a revised manuscript?

You haven’t mentioned how many reviewers accepted the peer review the first time. However, for Scientific Reports, it’s typically two or three. You haven’t also mentioned whether it was a major revision or a minor revision. Based on the information you have provided though, it was probably a major revision. So, the Editorial Board Member (who is like the Associate Editor at other journals) has either sent the revised manuscript to the same three reviewers (if there were three originally) or to a different set of three reviewers. (One or two though could be the same from the previous round.) This is common practice, as it says on their site as well (in the ‘If we request revisions’ sub-section): ‘Once resubmitted, the manuscript may then be sent back to the original referees or to new referees, at the Editorial Board Member's discretion.’

This may have happened due to the nature of your topic. It may be new, niche, or multidisciplinary (as is the case with Scientific Reports). So, the Editorial Board Member (EBM) may have invited reviewers from different disciplines. If the reviewers are entirely new, the EBD may have taken this step because they are possibly not sure about some aspects of the paper and want some new reviewers to look at those.

However, presently, we don’t think you should be too worried about this. Your manuscript has cleared a couple of stages (desk screening and first round of peer review). So, you have reason to hope. For now, you need to wait. If however, the journal takes quite long to get back on this round, you may then write to them requesting an update.

Here are some similar queries for more insights into situations like this.

• Why was my manuscript sent to peer reviewers twice?
• Is it common to send a paper for review again following very minor revisions?
• Why did the status of my submitted manuscript change from 'Under Review' to 'Awaiting Referee Assignment' again?

Hope that helps. All the best for the next stage!