Q: How long does the "Decision in Process" stage normally take?
I submitted a manuscript to a journal on September. After a few days the status changed to under review and after 5 months the status changed to all essential reviews are complete and presently the status is final decision awaited. The submission status has not changed since the last 3 weeks. How long this stage normally takes? is it too early to ask the editor (?) about the status of my paper?”
From your query it is evident that manuscript has already passed the editorial assessment and the peer review. Presently it is likely that the journal editor is assessing the peer review comments and trying to reach a final decision. Normally journal editors are too busy as they have to manage a large volume of submissions, and hence the final decision can take time.
The timeline of this stage varies across journals. Please check if the review process timelines are available for your journal. This information can be obtained from the journal webpage of you may consult the pubshub website (https://journalsandcongresses.pubshub.com/).
It is likely that you should receive the decision within a month. There is no harm if you send a polite reminder to the journal editor asking when you can expect a decision on your manuscript.
Related reading:
This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage