Q: Is it impolite if I send an inquiry to the editor about review status?
I submitted the original paper to a scientific paper. The status remains unchanged with “Under review” for 3 months. Isn’t it impolite if I send an inquiry to the editor to say that “I want to know when the review would be finished”? For this journal, the average duration from submission to acceptance is 5 months at the shortest and 18 months at the longest (based on data for the past 3 years).
It is certainly not impolite to ask the Editor regarding the status of the paper since it has been 3 months now. Of course, you cannot just say "I want to know when the review would be finished." You will have to write the email using a polite and courteous tone. You can politely ask the Editor to give you a time estimate or an update regarding your manuscript.
The following articles have some templates that you can modify and use to make your inquiry.
- How to write an email to the editor inquiring about the current status of my paper
- How to write to the journal editor inquiring about the status of my paper
- How do I write an inquiry to the editor about my manuscript's current status?
It would be good, however, if you could mention a strong reason for your inquiry – stating that it may be important for your graduation or any other reason that might be relevant. You may tell him the cause of your urgency and request him to provide you with a timeline so that you would also have a general idea regarding the same and it will help you plan subsequent actions.
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This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage