By Divya Jyoti Munjal
When authors check the status of their manuscript, they usually want an answer to one question: What is happening with my article?
A status provides a quick answer, but behind each label is a stage in the publishing workflow. The terminology and sequence may differ across journals and publishers, and not every activity described below will appear as a separate status.
Submitted
Before submission, authors should check the journal’s aims and scope to determine whether their article is suitable for that journal.
Once submitted, the manuscript may undergo preliminary checks by the Editorial Office before reaching the editor. The submission may be checked for completeness, required files and information, and basic submission requirements. If something needs clarification or correction, the author may be contacted.
A “Submitted” status, therefore, does not necessarily mean that peer review has started.
Editorial assessment
Once the preliminary checks are complete, the manuscript reaches the editor. The editor considers whether it fits the journal’s aims and scope and is suitable for peer review. Depending on the journal, originality, relevance, quality, scholarly or scientific soundness, and editorial policies may also be considered.
If the manuscript is considered suitable, reviewers are identified and invited. If not, the editor may reject it without sending it for external peer review.
Peer review
Once the editor decides that the manuscript should proceed to peer review, suitable reviewers are identified and invited. Those who accept the invitation assess the manuscript and submit their feedback to the editor.
The editor then evaluates that feedback and makes an editorial decision. The manuscript may be accepted, returned to the authors for revision, or rejected.
Revision
When revisions are requested, authors address the editor’s and reviewers’ comments, revise the manuscript, and usually explain how the comments have been addressed.
The revised manuscript is then assessed again. It may be reviewed by the editor or returned to reviewers, depending on the journal and the extent of the changes.
Revision does not guarantee acceptance. The cycle of peer review → revision → reassessment may occur more than once before a final decision is reached.
Accepted
Acceptance means that the editorial evaluation has been completed and the manuscript has been approved for publication.
The accepted manuscript, however, is not yet the final published article. Final files, publishing agreements, open access choices, or other information may still be required before or during its move into production.
Export to production
The accepted manuscript and its associated files are transferred from the editorial workflow to production. Depending on the systems used, this transfer may be automated, manual, or a combination of both.
This is an important handoff: editorial evaluation has concluded, and the article now enters the process of being prepared for publication.
Production readiness checks
Before copyediting begins, the manuscript and its files may be checked for completeness and usability. Depending on the workflow, these checks may occur before transfer to production, after receipt by production, or at both points.
This may include checking manuscript files, figures, tables, supplementary material, and relevant author and article information. Missing or unusable material may need to be obtained or corrected before the article proceeds.
Copyediting
During copyediting, the manuscript is prepared according to the journal’s editorial and style requirements. Checks may cover language, grammar, punctuation, consistency, terminology, references, headings, tables, figures, cross-references, and journal style.
Straightforward corrections can be made directly. When something is unclear or cannot be resolved confidently, a query should be raised for the author.
The purpose is to prepare the accepted content for publication while preserving the author’s intended meaning.
Typesetting
During typesetting, the article is transformed into the journal’s publication format. The required layout and formatting are applied to text, headings, tables, figures, equations, references, and other elements.
The exact relationship between copyediting and typesetting varies across workflows, and some editorial and technical activities may overlap.
The typeset article then becomes the basis for the proof sent to the author.
Proof review
The corresponding author reviews the proof to check how the article has been edited, typeset, and presented. Author details, text, tables, figures, equations, references, and outstanding production queries should be checked carefully.
Errors can be identified and corrected at this stage, but proof review is not another opportunity for substantial revision. If a major change to the accepted content is necessary at this stage, it should be discussed with the Production Editor. The author then returns the corrections for implementation.
Final corrections and quality checks
Once the author returns the proof, the production team incorporates the requested corrections and the author’s responses to the copy editor’s queries. The updated article is then checked to confirm that the corrections have been made accurately, the queries have been resolved, and the different article elements are presented correctly.
If any issue remains or a correction requires further clarification, the Production Editor may contact the author before the article proceeds.
Authors may not see a separate status for these activities because much of this work takes place within the production workflow.
Once the corrections and final checks are complete, the article is ready for publication.
Published
Once production is complete, the final version of the article is published and made available to readers. This is generally the Version of Record, the definitive version that should be cited.
Some journals publish an article online as soon as it is ready, before it is included in a specific issue. When the article is later assigned to an issue, details such as the volume, issue number, and page range may be added, depending on the journal’s publication format.
At this stage, the article’s journey through submission, peer review, and production is complete. Publication begins another part of its life: being discovered, read, cited, shared, and used by the research community.
A status may look like a simple label, but there is often considerable work happening behind it.
Want to understand more about what happens behind journal publishing workflows? Explore my book, Journal Publishing Behind the Scenes: Systems, KPIs and the Illusion of Progress.