Q: How to write an inquiry to a journal?

Peer review is a lengthy and time consuming process as reviewers are busy researchers themselves. Thus, the status of a manuscript is likely to remain “Under review” for several weeks or even months. If the journal has not responded to your inquiry through the online submission system, you can send another polite reminder to the editor asking him about the status of your manuscript.

You can use the following template to inquire about the current status of your paper:

Dear Mr./Ms. XXX [Editor's Name],

I have submitted my manuscript titled XXXX [manuscript id: xxxx] to your journal via the online submission system on dd/mm/yyyy [date of submission]. The status had remained “Under review” for three months after the submission, after which I submitted an inquiry via the online submission system. However, I have not received any response to the query for a month now.

I would be grateful if you could let me know whether there has been any further progress on my submission.

Sincerely,

XXXX [Your name and contact details]

Related reading:

• How should I ask the journal about the status of my manuscript?
• Whom should I send an inquiry about the status of my paper?