Q: What does it mean for the manuscript to turn from Under Review to Submitted in Ecography journal
What does it mean for the manuscript to turn from Under Review after two months to Submitted in the Ecography journal?
Thank you for writing to us!
A status change from “Under Review” back to “Submitted” in Ecography isn’t officially explained on their website, so it can feel confusing. But based on how such statuses are generally interpreted, here are some likely meanings:
1. Between different steps “Submitted” may be used as a temporary placeholder between different editorial steps, for instance, after peer review is finished or paused, and before it goes into the next step. It may not mean anything negative, and it may just mean the manuscript is moving along in the internal process.
Additionally, submission systems may use status labels in ways that differ between journals. So, this change may simply reflect how Ecography handles transitions, not indicating a real change in manuscript decision.
2. Review process being restarted Sometimes a reviewer may withdraw, or the review may not go as planned, leading to the review step being incomplete. In such cases, the system may return the manuscript to the editor, with the manuscript going back to the “Submitted” status, while the editor looks for new reviewers or resets part of the process.
3. A decision may be in progress It is also a possibility that the peer review is already complete, and the editor is reviewing and preparing a decision, but the system hasn’t moved to the typically used “Decision Pending or With Editor” label. Often editors have a slew of manuscripts in the pipeline, and it may take some time for them to get through them and respond with a decision.
Since Ecography doesn’t give detailed definitions for the statuses used, it is difficult to know which of these applies to your specific case. For absolute clarity, it is our recommendation that you reach out to the journal editorial office directly. Feel free to send an email to the editor, and while you do, make sure you specify your manuscript ID, title, date of submission, and politely inquire what this change in status means for your submission.
