Q: How long does it take for the status to change from “Reviewer invited” to “Under review”?
submitted a research paper in a journal, and for the last 12 days the status of the manuscript is displayed as ‘Reviewer Invited’. Is this time normal? When will this status change to ‘Under Review’?
After an initial editorial assessment, the editor of the journal invites suitable peer-reviewers to assess a manuscript. The peer review process starts when the suitable reviewers accept the journal’s invitation to review. Depending on the specific subject area of your study and the availability of the reviewers, this process may take few days to start. Sometimes, this period may extend to 2-3 weeks.
Since a period of 12 days is not exceptionally long, I would suggest that you wait for another week and if the submission status does not change by then, contact the journal’s editorial office to confirm the situation. Once the peer reviewers accept your manuscript the submission status would change to ‘Under Review’. Rarely, the editor of a journal returns a manuscript to the author on the ground of unavailability of the suitable reviewers.
Suggested reading:
Peer review process and editorial decision making at journals