Q: What is the meaning of 'Under editor evaluation'?

You have not mentioned the previous status of your manuscript, that is, whether it was ‘With Editor’ or ‘Under Review’. ‘With Editor’ means that it is with the handling or associate editor, who is performing an initial check on your manuscript, for factors such as basic language and quality and match with the journal’s scope. ‘Under Review’ means (in most cases) that it is undergoing peer review. (In some cases, it can mean that it is undergoing the initial review with the handling or associate editor.) The status usually changes from ‘Under Review’ to ‘Under Editor Evaluation’ after the peer review is complete and indicates that the editor is now making their decision on the manuscript based on the peer review. However, note that this is not the final decision. The editor has to communicate their decision to the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) through the ‘Decision in Process’ status. The EiC makes the final decision on the manuscript.

As editors have several manuscripts in the queue and as the holiday season is approaching, your paper may remain ‘Under Editor Evaluation’ for a while. Also, it has been only about three weeks since this status change. So, you could wait for some time – at the most, until mid-January, when the holiday season ends – before writing to the editor about the status.

Related reading:

• What should I do if my paper is showing "under editor evaluation" for over a month?
• What does a status change from "Under review" to "Under editor evaluation" mean?
• What does a status change from 'with editor' to 'under editor evaluation' mean?