Q: Why has the status date changed although the status has remained Editor Assigned?

Detailed Question -

I submitted a mechanical-related review paper to a Springer journal. Here is a timeline of the changes.

  • July 1: I made the initial submission.
  • August 14: It went Under Review.
  • September 15: I received a major revision decision. They gave me 30 days’ time [to make the changes].
  • October 15: I uploaded the revised manuscript.
  • October 25: It went Under Review.
  • October 28: It again updated for Under Review.
  • November 2: It shows Reviews Completed.
  • November 8: It changed to Editor Assigned.
  • November 13: The status was updated for the date, but the status remained at Editor Assigned.

What does this mean? Is it a bad sign?

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

Thanks for providing the detailed timeline. No, this isn’t necessarily a bad sign. The manuscript has clearly been progressing smoothly at the journal. As it was a major revision, it went for peer review again. The two changes for the second round of review probably refer to the reviews by the two peer reviewers. The two changes to Editor Assigned may not mean much. It may simply have been that the Associate Editor (AE) viewed the manuscript once but wasn’t able to go through it in detail (possibly due to lack of time or some other responsibility) and has now picked it up again.

While it’s not always easy to predict for a major revision, just the way it has been progressing so far, and without knowing whether the initial comments were more on the critical side or the positive side, you may have reason to hope. All the same, you should wait for the next update. By then, the AE would have made their decision and then communicated this to the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) for the final decision.

For more insights into these kind of Editor Assigned changes, you may refer to these previous queries:

Hope that helps. All the best for the next update!

Comment