Q: Why did the status of my paper change from "under review" to "with editor?"
I submitted a paper in an Elsevier journal. After a month, the status of my manuscript changed from "editor assigned" to "under review." However, after only a week the status changed to "with editor." This status has lasted for two weeks now. What does this indicate?
The fact that the status of your manuscript had changed from “editor assigned” to “under review” indicates that your manuscript has cleared the initial screening and reviewers were invited to review your manuscript.
The status “under review” means that the reviewers had accepted the invitation and peer review process had begun. However, the status changed to “with editor” probably because the assigned reviewer(s) has declined the review request.
Possible reasons for this could be that the reviewer has identified a conflict of interest or they may have realized that they do not have the necessary expertise to evaluate certain parts of your manuscript. The editor will now have to look for another reviewer. You needn’t worry as this is quite common in the editorial process. Your status should change back to “under review” once the editor finds another reviewer(s) for your manuscript.
Related reading:
This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage