Q: Can you explain the meaning of the journal’s response to my inquiry?
I sent an inquiry about the status of my submitted manuscript and got the following response: "Currently, your manuscript is awaiting a decision upon publication from the Editor-in-chief." What's the meaning of this?
This means that your paper is currently with the Editor-in-chief who will give the final decision on whether it will be accepted, rejected, or sent back for revisions. This is the final stage of the editorial review process. This means that the peer review for your manuscript is done and the Associate Editor has sent his/her recommendation based on the reviewer comments. Now the paper is waiting for the final decision to be made by the Editor-in-chief. This stage can take some time if there are several papers lined up before yours. In that case, your paper will have to wait for its turn to be viewed by the Editor-in-chief for the final decision.
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