Q: Why does my manuscript's status keep changing from "awaiting reviewer selection" to "awaiting reviewer assignment"?

The status “awaiting reviewer selection” implies that the editor is looking for peer reviewers for your paper. In case of a revised submission, usually the paper is sent back to the same set of reviewers who originally reviewed it. However, in your case, it seems that the editor is trying to look for new reviewers for your manuscript. There could be two possible reasons for this. Perhaps the editor wants a fresh perspective on your paper and is, therefore, planning to send it to a new set of reviewers. The other reason could be that the reviewers who originally reviewed your paper are unavailable at the moment.

The status changes to "awaiting reviewer assignment" when the editor has selected reviewers for your paper and has sent out review invitations. Once the requisite number of reviewers accept the invitation, the status will change to "under review." However, if one or more reviewers decline the review invitation, the editor will have to look for new reviewers and send out invitations all over again.

This process continues until all the reviewers have accepted the invitation. In short, the switching of the status repeatedly from “awaiting reviewer selection”  to “awaiting reviewer assignment” and back implies that the editor is having a hard time finding reviewers for your paper. 

Related reading:

• What does a status change from "Awaiting reviewer score" back to "Awaiting reviewer assignment" mean?
• What does a change from "Awaiting editorial decision" to "Awaiting reviewer scores" mean?
• Does a status change from "Awaiting reviewer selection" to "Awaiting ED recommendation" imply desk rejection?

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