Q: Why is my manuscript 'Under Review' even after the review was shown to be completed?

Detailed Question -

I submitted my manuscript to an SCI journal, and was asked to make some revisions. I resubmitted the revised manuscript, after which the status showed that the review process had been completed. However, two days later, the status changed to ‘Under Review.’ What is going one? Is this a sign of acceptance or rejection? By the way, there were two reviewers at the beginning (who gave positive feedback). However, after the revision, there was only one reviewer [and] who was new.

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

There are a couple of things that are not entirely clear in the description of the situation. So, let me see if I’ve got them correctly. One, when you say you were asked to make “some revisions” and that the there were only two initial reviewers, both of whom gave positive feedback, I guess you mean you were asked to make minor revisions. Two, you haven’t mentioned the exact status after you resubmitted the revised manuscript, but perhaps it was something like ‘Reviews Completed’ or ‘Decision in Process.’ So, it seems to have changed to ‘Under Review’ from this status. This is unusual, but has been known to happen, especially as you mentioned there is now a new reviewer.

Here is what may have happened. This could be a special issue of the journal, and this new reviewer is a guest (managing) editor, who is now reviewing the revised manuscript to see if it fits the scope not just of the journal but of the special issue. (Special issues are around certain themes, and typically accept papers only around those themes.) Alternatively, one or both of the earlier reviewers might be unavailable now. So, for a final check, the associate editor (AE) decided to send the revised manuscript to a third (new) reviewer.

To answer your other question, this may not presently mean a rejection. As it was only a minor revision and the initial reviewers were positive, even the new reviewer is likely to find it positive. But you should wait for a few days to know the next status. If it takes longer, you could write to the AE requesting clarification on the status update and the new reviewer.

All the best!

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