Q: Why has the date of the Under Review status changed several times, that too, somewhat regularly?
I submitted to a Springer journal on August 5, and the status changed to Under Review on August 13. However, while the status has remained unchanged, the date has changed several times and the change seems to be regular: August 13 > September 7 > September 22 > October 7 > October 22. While the first change was 25 days after the first change, since then, the change seems to be every 15 days. I would like to know the reason for this. Thank you.
Hello Dr Ke – Welcome to the forum! This is an intriguing scenario, and on your behalf, pretty keen observation. :-) Given the number of date changes and the date since the manuscript has been Under Review, we believe this means that the handling/associate editor (AE) has been finding it challenging getting either one or both reviewers for the paper. While the AE typically changes the status from Under Review to something like Reviewers Invited or Awaiting Reviewer Assignment, this AE has probably just let the status remain.
Another possibility is that the editor has been updating the system on receiving comments from the different reviewers (as also discussed in this earlier query by another researcher: Why does the status date of a submission change periodically though the status remains unchanged?). However, given that there are probably only two reviewers, this situation may be unlikely. The final possibility is, of course, a technical glitch.
Anyway, as it has been almost three months since you submitted your paper and nearly as much time that it has been Under Review with no other update from the journal, you should write to them requesting an update and also an understanding of the frequent/periodical data changes. Hopefully, the editor will be able to respond to both your queries, and your manuscript should get moving along.
Hope that helps. All the best for the next on your submission!