Q: When should I ask about the status of a paper I submitted with revisions – or has it been rejected by the editors?

Hi Peter – welcome to the forum!

Before we respond to your query, we’d like to touch upon a couple of other parts of your query.

Firstly, you’ve mentioned that your paper “was accepted with revisions.” Technically, the paper can’t be ‘accepted’ at that stage. What you perhaps meant was that it has been considered for further processing at the journal. This is also to avoid the disappointment from a possible/actual rejection later.

Then, your mail to the editor saying that you’d be “more than happy to make further revisions” sounds like a pretty astute decision/action. This is a fairly delicate thing to bring up: it may open up the door for the journal to keep asking you for more changes or it could communicate how eager and willing you are to have your paper accepted with this journal. Going by the expression and articulation of your entire query, we are fairly certain they would have understood it just the way you intended.

And now, coming to your query. To answer your core question, no, this doesn’t mean a rejection. You haven’t mentioned the status changes, but a decision by the associate editor (AE) is typically indicated by the ‘Decision in Process’ status (and sometimes, by ‘Evaluating Recommendation’). Also, note that this is just the decision by the AE – an initial decision. The AE communicates this to the Editor-in-Chief (EiC), who makes the final decision on the paper. As you haven’t mentioned the present status, the manuscript may be either still with the AE or with the EiC. Either or both of them, based on the exact status, may presently be busy with other journal responsibilities, which is possibly why they haven’t responded to your mails, modified the status, or made a decision, as the case may be.

You could wait another week or so before dropping them another mail. Again, you could talk about your eagerness in knowing the outcome. This time though, you needn’t talk about your willingness to make further revisions.

In case, for some reason, you don’t hear from them at all or they take an inordinately long time over the next stage/status, you may consider withdrawing the paper from this journal and submitting to another journal. There are some points you need to keep in mind for this, which you can read about in this related query: Should I withdraw my paper if the journal is taking unusually long to process?

Hope this helps. And all the best for whatever the next steps are!

Based on the various points discussed above, you may also find these other resources helpful:

• Who takes the final decision on a manuscript: the AE or EiC?
• Editorial decision-making: what are the possible outcomes for a manuscript?
• A guide to understanding journal statuses [Handbook]

Hello again, Peter! Based on how clear and well-articulated your query was, we were wondering if you have a writing background, and if so, would like to contribute to our site in some way. If yes, here are two ways in which you could do so:

• Pen a story for our Researchers and Their Stories section. Here, researchers, academics, and scholars share narratives – from the professional to the personal – on various aspects of the academic life. You may go through some stories here, and if keen, share your story here.
• Write an article as a Guest Contributor in case you are a senior researcher or scholar. This could be about an area in which you have experience and expertise, and would like to share it for the benefit of others. If so, you may find out more here.

Thanks in advance/anticipation!