Q: What is the meaning of the status "Pending Approval"?

The status "Under review" in most cases means that your paper has cleared the editorial screening process and the peer review process has been initiated. If that is the case with this journal, the status change to "Pending Approval" means that a decision about your manuscript has been reached and this decision is pending approval from the Editor-in-Chief (EiC), who will take the final call on the paper. While this status (the EiC’s decision) is indicated by ‘Decision in Process’ by most other journals, at Hindawi, it seems to be indicated by ‘Pending Approval.’ We understand that the wait can be difficult; journals often take weeks and sometimes months to get back with a decision. We recommend that you wait for a few more weeks before writing to the journal and following up about its decision. We wish you all the best and hope for a positive response.