Q: What can I expect when the status changes to 'Awaiting EiC Decision' very quickly?

A few parts of your query were not very clear. So, we have made some edits/assumptions. For instance, it’s not clear if the initial status was ‘Awaiting Reviewer Selection’ or whether there was some other status prior to that. Because ‘Awaiting Reviewer Selection’ means that the manuscript passed the admin and/or Associate Editor (AE) check and was awaiting peer review. If so, it seems to have gone from this decision to awaiting a decision by the Editor-in-Chief (EiC). Also, ‘SAE’ perhaps stands for ‘Specialist Associate Editor.’ This must be a journal-specific descriptor for the AE role. You may learn more about what the AE does here.

Anyway, a rapid change to ‘Awaiting EiC Decision’ soon after submission usually means that it could be rejected. But note that this may presently be the decision of only the SAE. The EiC may well think otherwise of your manuscript. In the case of a big publisher, they may decide that your manuscript could be a better fit with another of their journals. There may also be some challenge identifying suitable peer reviewers, explaining the quick shift from ‘Awaiting Reviewer Selection.’ So, the AE may be seeking the EiC’s opinion on what to do next in such a scenario. As you can see, there are various possibilities.

Presently, you should wait for the next status update. The EiC may take a few days to get back. However, in case of a reject decision, as you may know, you could submit to some other journal, making any changes as you think fit. Note also that sometimes, there are other reasons for a rejection, apart from the quality of the manuscript, as you can learn here: Most common reasons for journal rejection

Additionally, you may wish to check out our new AI-powered platform, PubSure, which aims to help minimize desk rejection by performing a quality check on your manuscript. It also allows you to showcase your improved, submission-ready manuscript to editors of various journals, one of whom may consider it for publishing. You may learn more about the platform here: PubSure

Finally, you may also wish to keep this free ebook handy: Tips to avoid journal rejection

All the best for the next steps!