Q: What is the role of the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) right after paper submission?

When the paper is submitted, the EiC has a high-level look at the paper. If the topic sounds interesting, they may look at the paper in some more detail. However, they assign the paper to the AE for an initial review and decision. The AE goes through the paper in detail to check for aspects such as match with the journal’s scope, novelty of the topic, quality of the writing, and adherence to the journal’s guidelines. Based on their assessment, the AE arrives at a decision and communicates this decision to the EiC. However, the final decision rests with the EiC, whether to send it for peer review, request a minor or major review, or reject it. Even after a paper has been reviewed and the decision communicated to the EiC, the EiC makes the final decision on the paper.

In this case, it seems the EiC thinks the article may have some potential. So, while you have an initial reason to be hopeful, it would be better to wait for the next status on the journal. Until then, you could go through the following resources to get more familiar with the journal decision-making process:

• Editorial decision-making: what are the possible outcomes for a manuscript?
• Peer review process and editorial decision making at journals
• Who takes the final decision on a manuscript: the AE or EiC?

All the best for your manuscript!