Article waiting for AE assignment for too long?

2,079

Solution 1

If you search on this site, you'll find people whose papers have been under review for more than a year. 15 days is nothing in academic time, especially with a global pandemic going on. I'd suggest to wait until at least their stated average time before you ask for an update.

Solution 2

You can send a request for an update at any time. You may or may not learn anything. There could be many reasons for a delay, including not sending too many papers to one editor and needing to find another who is suitable.

But an average of 30 days tells you little about the distribution of actual times. There is no real reason to panic unless you have other options for the paper that seem equally good.

2,079

Parnian

Updated on January 30, 2023

Comments

Parnian about 1 hour

I have submitted two articles to a journal. One of them got accepted within 10 days, but the status for the other one has been "Awaiting AE assignment" for 15 days now. The journal says on average they take 30 days to make a decision on a paper. Should I contact the journal about the status and why it's not changing? Is it possible that they forgot my article? And would sending a reminder have a negative impact on the decision of the journal?

Thanks.
- Solar Mike over 2 years
  
  So if that’s the average and one was accepted in 10 days, how long should you now wait for the second?
- Parnian over 2 years
  
  well I'm not sure. the other one move from AE assignment to reviewer selection pretty fast, like in 5 days.
- Jon Custer over 2 years
  
  Given the times, waiting 15 days really doesn't seem like that much.
- Parnian over 2 years
  
  when would you suggest sending a follow-up email? @JonCuster
Parnian over 2 years

I understand, but as my research was on COVID-19 I expected it to move forward faster.
Daniel K over 2 years

Ah. Well you didn't say it was covid19 related. In that case, you may have some expectation of moving faster than normal. However you don't want to move too fast. There have already been a few covid19 retraction. retractionwatch.com/retracted-coronavirus-covid-19-papers an email asking about the status is probably okay
Allure over 2 years

I downvoted this answer because by far the most time consuming step is the peer review itself, and "awaiting AE assignment" is a sign that review has not started yet. In this case 15 days is plenty of time to ask for a status update.