Q: Why has the status of my paper changed directly from 'Reviewer Invited' to 'Ready for Decision'?
I submitted a manuscript to an Elsevier journal on April 19,2018. The status changed to 'Reviewer Invited' on May. 20,2018. After 10 days , the status changed to 'Ready for Decision.' There was no 'Under Review' status update in between these two statuses.What does this mean?
It is possible that the reviewers declined the invitation and the editor was unable to find reviewers for your paper. If the subject area of the manuscript is very niche, then suitable reviewers may be difficult to find. Sometimes, when no appropriate peer-reviewers can be found or when no reviewer accepts to review the manuscript, the editorial decision will be final. At this point, the best course of action would be to wait for the decision letter. Once you receive it, things will be clearer. If you don't get the decision letter within a couple of weeks, you can write to the journal.
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This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage