Q: How should I interpret "technical issues" in the journal editor's communication?

Detailed Question -

Hi, I got a mail from the Chief Editor after the first round of revision saying that my paper is technically accepted, but needs language proofreading. However, after I got proofreading done and submitted the paper, the status changed to "under review" once again. I sent a mail to the Chief Editor after a week to understand if this status change is normal. Here’s the Chief Editor’s reply: "Thank you for your e-mail. You may rest assured that your revised article is progressing through our review process. There are some technical issues that are currently being reviewed. Please bear with this, and I expect to get back to you in early January with a decision.” How should I understand “There are some technical issues that are currently being reviewed"? Is this technical issue related to the system or my paper?

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

Since the editor had mentioned after the first round of review that your paper is technically accepted, it is possible that the technical issues that he now mentions would have nothing to do with the paper. They might be technical issues with the system or issues in finding the same reviewers for the second round of review. However, you cannot really be sure. There could be a few minor issues that the peer reviewers had not noticed in the first round of review.

It would be a good idea to reply to the editor’s mail thanking him for the communication and mentioning that in case there are any technical issues with the paper, you are open to more revisions.

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