You would think that the hardest part of publishing your research is the preparation of the manuscript itself (let alone conducting the research), but many researchers point to manuscript submission as the most challenging step. You would be surprised at how many people don’t know exactly what happens once they hit the “submit” button and complete their manuscript submission. Finding out how to track your submission at your chosen journal is obviously a key requirement for every author.
There are 3 stages of manuscript publication: before submission, the editorial process, and post-publication. I won’t dive into the details of preparing your manuscript before submission, but it goes without saying that after selecting the appropriate journal, you need to carefully follow the manuscript submission guidelines and comply with basic requirements such as formatting (use a template if applicable), the maximum length of the article, recommended article structure, language editing, and proofreading. This may be a nerve-wracking process, but nothing as hard as finalizing your research.
After you have followed the steps and successfully completed your manuscript submission, it enters a journal editorial process, from pre-assessment to peer reviewing and revisions. Processing times vary, but each journal provides an estimate of “first decision” based on an average. All journals have an online platform where you can track where your submission is in the manuscript publishing journey. You can check this effectively in your ‘Author Main Menu’ account, but first you need to understand the various stages after manuscript submission and the statuses displayed, which I have summarized into five simple but mutually exclusive steps.
- AOR. The acknowledgement of receipt is straightforward after manuscript submission. You (assuming that you are the corresponding author) will receive an automated notice stating that your article was received. Then, a ‘Submitted to Journal’ status will be displayed.
- Initial quality check. All articles are checked upon submission by journal editors to make sure that it contains everything needed for the peer reviewing process.
- Internal editorial evaluation. A member of the Editorial Board, who is active in your research field, will then assess that your article adheres to the aims and scope of the journal. This is where you will see a ‘With Editor’ status. Rejection can be high at this stage (perhaps because the Editorial Team suggests changes prior to peer review), which is when it gets decided whether the manuscript submitted will be sent for peer review or be desk rejected. This status will cover the time spent inviting reviewers.
- Peer review or under review. Needless to say, this is when journal peer reviewers assess the scientific validity of your manuscript submission. At the end of this ‘Under Review’ process, the reviewers need to deliver clear and concise reports to the Editor in Charge. The reports will be evaluated by the Editor before they reach you to make sure the article was fairly but thoroughly assessed. If this is not the case, there may be some delays, either caused by a poor peer-reviewing process or the lack of availability of article referees. Because most journals aim to improve the quality of your article, the Editorial Board makes sure your manuscript will make a great contribution to their journal, so this process is not taken lightly.
- Decision making stage. This ‘Decision in Process’ includes a decision to revise the submission (with a precise deadline and a point-by-point response) or a ‘Completed – Accept/Reject’ decision (direct acceptance is rare, but if you do get one, well done!). During the ‘Revise’ stage, you can make the suggested/required changes and then submit your manuscript again. Once you submit your revisions, it normally goes to the same reviewers (if available) or new referees who will assess that you made the recommended changes. Note that you can decline the revisions, but you will need to justify why you think your original manuscript submission does not need to be revised. Make sure that you have addressed all issues raised to speed up the acceptance for publication. However, if you are not happy with the handling of your manuscript (perhaps because it was rejected), you can withdraw your submission and select a new target journal or request it to be reconsidered (in this case, you will need to provide strong evidence that the decision was not fair based on scientific misunderstanding or reviewer bias). In some instances, the Editor may recommend that your submission is transferred to another journal, in which case your response to a ‘Transfer Pending’ status will be needed.
Once the article has been accepted, it goes to the production department (and the status will change to “accept” or “completed”) and then through a journal-specific post-publication or marketing process, where the journal makes sure that your precious piece of work is found by the wider audience. You may also be able to promote your published article through your own channels that are based on policy for authors, but that’s another story. Congratulations, you are on your way to boosting your career!
The semantics of manuscript submission are customized by each journal, but I hope this has helped to clarify the steps and tracking process after manuscript submission and right through to publication.
