Manuscript Status

Q: Why has my revised manuscript been sent to more reviewers than before?

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I submitted a manuscript to the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences (AMS Journal) and after 2 months I received a decision of "Major Revision". Three reviewers were invited for this. I revised the manuscript thoroughly based on the comments received and then sent it back on 2^nd August 2017. Since then, the status is "Under Review". I inquired about this at the Editorial Office and came to know that the manuscript actually had gone to four reviewers (one more than the last time) and out of those only one review has been returned. They expect to receive the other reviews by mid-September. It is a very important paper for my career progression and I must say I am pretty scared and also anxious. Why has the paper has gone to more reviewers than the last time and does that mean the Editor believes the paper has to be rejected? I would really appreciate if the experts here can help me out with this.

Asked on 06 Sep, 2017

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Usually, the revised paper is sent to the same set of reviewers who reviewed it the first time. However, in this case, it has been sent to one extra reviewer. My guess is that probably the paper has also been sent to a specialized reviewer for a technical review. this is usually done for papers that have complex statistical analysis. Another possibility is that the editor wants a fresh perspective on your paper, which is why he/she has sent it to a different reviewer. This definitely does not mean that your paper is going to be rejected. In fact, it means that the editor is keen on giving you a fair judgment and ensuring that all aspects of the paper are of the best quality. You can, however, be asked to make further changes based on the comments of the fourth reviewer.