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Q: Why does the status change back to "Reviewers assigned" after 3 days of "Under review"?

Detailed Question -

Hello, I have experienced a manuscript tracking that is a little odd. After the editoral review, the reviewers were invited, and then the status changed to "Reviewers assigned" for two months. But, after that, the status changed to "Under review" for three days, and then it changed to "Reviewers assigned" again. What does this brief "Under review" means? Why dit it change to "Reviewers assigned" again? Thank you very much!

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

The "Reviewers assigned" status indicates that the editor has sent out reviewer invitations. Once the requisite number of reviewers (generally, 2 to 3) accept the invitation, the status changes to "Under review." However, in your case the status changed back to "Reviewers assigned" within 3 days. This is probably because one of the reviewers declined after initially accepting the request. This is not an uncommon situation. Sometimes, after going through the manuscript, reviewers realize that they are not equipped to review the manuscript or that they have a potential conflict of interest. In such cases, they inform the editor immediately and the editor begins to look for a new reviewer. Once the new reviewer accepts the invitation, the status will change to "Under review" once again.

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