nquiry about Manuscript Status

I would like to inquire about the status of my manuscript. By sending an e-mail inquiry to the editorial office, I acknowledge that I have read the following message from the editorial office. (Inquiry by e-mail is preferred to that by telephone because the former leaves a record while the latter messages are erased by the answering machine at some point).

Am I Being Ignored?

In the old days authors used to submit papers by snail mail. If they do not hear from the editorial office after several months or a year, they would also send a letter by snail mail to the editorial office and inquire about the status of their papers.

With the introduction of e-mails, correspondence has become much easier and less costly, almost instantaneous. But this reduction in communication cost also has incresed the number of e-mail inquiries. The total volume of inquires has increased more than ten-fold during the last two years, and there is no sign that this trend will abate in the future.

Currently, the editorial office receives more than 2000 e-mails about manuscripts each year. These inquiries are useful to the office in that it helps to expedite the editorial process by spotting any bottlenecks in the editorial process, i.e., problems in the manuscripts, finding suitable referees, obtaining confirmation from referees, sending manuscripts to referees, sending reminders to them, and confirming when the reports will actually arrive at the editorial office.

While the editorial office does its best, it may not be able respond to all inquiries for a number of reasons: Nothing to report yet, still waiting for a referee report, referees moved to another state, insufficient or conflicting referee reports, etc. Here are some examples of e-mail correspondences the editorial office receives or initiates. Any imperfection in the submission process causes a delay.

Initial submission.
Typos or illegible letters in the EZ submission form.
Errors or wrong math symbols in the PDF files (usually from overseas).
Missing Tables, Appendices or Figures.
Could you send the appendix to the referees?
Did you receive my Fax message?
Could you waive the submission fee? I am poor, living in a developing country.
Sorry, all authors have to pay the fee.
Could you take a look at the attached paper to see if it is suitable for publication in the journal?
No, it is outside the scope of the journal.
Please fax the reverse side, rather than blank page.
Please spell out the card numbers. The numbers are illegible.
Did you receive the check?
Please send me a receipt.
Would you review this paper?
I am willing, but not so fast. When is the deadline?
I refereed this paper for another journal.
Sorry, I can't do it.
Could you recommend another expert?
Yes, so and so works in this area.
I received the PDF file but cannot open it.
Upgrading to a new version of Acrobat may solve the problem.
Will send you a hard copy?
Is the paper under review, now that I paid the submission fee?
What is the status? Sorry, I do not know the manuscript number.
Do you know when you submitted?
Last summer, etc.
Can you give me more time to revise the paper?
I am up for tenure and promotion this Fall. Could you write a recommendation letter?
Could you expedite it? I am in the job market or going up for tenure.
Did you receive the revised version? I have not received acknowledgment. (We only send acknowledgment for the initial submission.)
What is the status? I sent a revised version a few months ago.
Here is the final version. Please check if it is OK.
Endnotes must be double spaced
Your diskette is damaged. Please e-mail the file ASAP.
Please sign and mail/fax the copyright assignment form.
Please fax or mail me a copy of the acceptance letter.
We have not received coypright assignement form yet (second request).
Please change my affiliation and e-mail address. I have moved to another school.
My paper was accepted a few months ago. When will it be published?
It will appear in May 2xxx issue.

Lack of response from the editorial office does not mean your manuscript is being ignored. It simply means the office has not received a report or reports yet to make an editorial decision.

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