Q: What is the meaning of the 'Required Reviews Completed' status?

Detailed Question -

I submitted a paper to a journal [after being] transferred from another journal [where] I initially submitted. After nearly a month, the status changed from 'Under review' to the one I mentioned in the title [header]. I'm very anxious about publishing in a journal. Can you please tell me what this means? In your experience, is this a good sign or a bad sign? Thanks for your answer in advance.

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

Hi Andres – Welcome back to the forum!

Referring to your previous query, hopefully, you’ve been able to get some tips to help you through your early days as a researcher, whether on this forum or elsewhere. :-)

Coming to your present query, and as you asked about good/bad signs, the first point you mentioned – the transfer – is a good sign. While the first journal felt your paper wasn’t a good match for them, it suggested a sister/related journal from the same publisher (based on our understanding), and there seems to have indeed been a match here.

Now, with the second journal, the paper was in ‘Under review’ for about a month. You haven’t mentioned the status updates prior to this, but this usually means that your paper was sent for peer review after clearing the initial editorial check. Now, after a month, the status has changed to ‘Required Reviews Completed,’ which as the term suggests, means that the peer review has been completed.

Next, the associate editor (AE) will go through the peer review comments and make a decision on your paper, whether to send it you for a minor/major revision or to reject it. In the case of the latter, the AE will communicate this to the Editor-in-Chief (EiC), who will make the final decision. Based on the status updates so far, and going by previous experience, it probably looks like a revision – either minor or major. You should know the exact status in the next few days. If not, you can send the editor a mail requesting an update.

Finally, your anxiety is understandable, perhaps as this is your first time (or the first few times), but you should take this one step at a time. In line with your earlier query, here are some tips to help build academic resilience, as publication (especially the first few papers) can be quite a challenging process: 7 Secrets to help you build academic resilience

For now, while you wait for the next status update, you may find it worthwhile to go through the following resources:

All the best for the next stages!

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