Submission status is the current state assigned to a manuscript submission within an academic journal’s submission and editorial system. It tells users whether a submission has been received, is being processed, requires action, or has reached an outcome.
For journals using Alkademy Press, submission status is part of the information attached to each submission record. Authors can use it to understand what is happening with work they have sent to a journal, while editorial teams can use status information to organize incoming submissions and identify records that need attention.
Although submission status and manuscript status are closely related, submission status places greater emphasis on the state of the submission within the journal’s system. This distinction becomes useful when a journal needs to manage administrative actions, author responses, editorial processing, and submission records alongside the manuscript itself.
What Does Submission Status Mean?
Submission status provides a concise description of where a submitted work currently stands within a journal’s handling process.
Once an author completes a submission, the journal needs a way to distinguish that record from submissions that are already being reviewed, awaiting revisions, or have reached a final outcome.
A journal may use statuses such as:
- Submission Received
- Awaiting Initial Check
- Awaiting Editor Assignment
- With Editor
- Under Review
- Awaiting Author Revision
- Revision Received
- Awaiting Decision
- Accepted
- Rejected
- Withdrawn
These labels are not universal. Journals can define their own terminology according to their editorial policies and operating procedures.
The most important requirement is consistency. A status should have a clear meaning, and editorial staff should know when it should be applied.
Common Submission Statuses
Different stages of the submission process require different forms of status information.
Submission Received
This indicates that the journal’s system has successfully received the author’s submission.
It confirms that the submission record has been created and can now enter the journal’s processing activities.
For authors, this can be particularly important because it provides confirmation that their work has reached the journal rather than remaining incomplete in the submission process.
Awaiting Initial Check
A submission may enter this state while editorial staff verify that the required information and materials have been provided.
The checks performed at this point depend on the journal’s policies. They may involve reviewing files, submission details, declarations, or other administrative requirements.
Awaiting Editor Assignment
This status indicates that the submission has been received but has not yet been allocated to the editor responsible for its next stage.
For journals with several editors, this can be a useful distinction because it separates submissions waiting for allocation from those already under active editorial consideration.
With Editor
A submission may receive this status when an editor has taken responsibility for reviewing it.
The editor may assess its suitability, determine whether it should proceed to peer review, or decide whether further information is required.
Under Review
This indicates that the submission has entered the journal’s peer-review process.
The precise meaning depends on how the journal structures its review workflow. Some publications may use one broad review status, while others may distinguish between reviewer invitations, active reviews, and completed reports.
Awaiting Author Revision
This status indicates that the journal has requested changes or additional material from the author.
The submission remains active, but progress depends on the author’s response.
Revision Received
Once the author submits the requested revision, the journal can record that the updated material has been received.
The editorial team can then determine whether another assessment or review is necessary.
Awaiting Decision
This can indicate that the necessary editorial and review information has been gathered and the submission is waiting for the responsible editor to determine its outcome.
Accepted
An accepted status indicates that the journal has approved the submission for publication.
The submission may then continue into publication preparation or production activities depending on the journal’s workflow.
Rejected
A rejected status indicates that the journal has decided not to publish the submitted work.
The decision may occur before peer review or after the review process, depending on the journal’s policies and the circumstances of the submission.
Withdrawn
A withdrawn submission is no longer active within the journal’s consideration process.
The circumstances and procedures surrounding withdrawal should be defined by the journal’s policies.
How Is Submission Status Updated?
Submission status can change when a significant event occurs within the journal’s process.
An authorized editorial user may update the status after completing an administrative check, assigning an editor, requesting a revision, recording a decision, or performing another relevant action.
Some changes can also be triggered by activity within the submission system. For example, receiving a revised submission may cause the record to move into a state indicating that new material has been received.
The important consideration is that status should remain aligned with the actual state of the submission.
If a journal fails to update statuses consistently, authors may receive outdated information and editors may have difficulty identifying which submissions need attention.
Who Uses Submission Status?
Submission status serves several groups involved in academic publishing.
Authors use it to understand whether their submission has been received and whether the journal currently requires any action from them.
Corresponding authors may monitor the submission on behalf of the author group and use available status information when communicating with the journal.
Editors use submission statuses to identify records under their responsibility and determine which submissions require action.
Managing editors can use status information to oversee the broader submission pipeline and identify potential delays.
Editorial assistants may use it to organize administrative tasks, follow up on incomplete submissions, and respond to routine author questions.
Journal administrators can use aggregated status information to understand the state of submissions across a publication or group of journals.
Submission Status vs. Manuscript Status
The two terms are often used interchangeably, but there is a useful distinction.
Manuscript status describes the state of the scholarly work within the editorial process.
Submission status focuses on the state of the submission record and its processing by the journal.
In practice, a journal system may use one term for both concepts. However, separating them conceptually can help when designing more detailed publishing workflows.
For example, the manuscript itself may be undergoing review while the submission record contains additional administrative information about outstanding author requirements.
The distinction therefore becomes particularly useful when a journal wants to manage both the scholarly material and the administrative process surrounding it.
Submission Status vs. Submission Tracking
Submission tracking involves monitoring the progress and history of a submission over time.
Submission status is the current indicator used within that tracking process.
A status might tell an editor that a submission is awaiting a revision. Tracking can provide additional context, such as when the revision was requested, when the previous communication was sent, and whether the author has responded.
In other words, status provides a current-state summary, while tracking provides a broader view of submission activity.
Why Is Submission Status Important?
Clear submission statuses help journals maintain an organized view of incoming work.
When a journal receives submissions continuously, editorial staff need to distinguish newly received records from submissions that are waiting for review, revisions, decisions, or other actions.
For authors, status information can make the publishing process easier to understand. It gives them a reference point without requiring them to contact the editorial office each time they want to know whether their submission has been received.
Effective submission status management can help journals:
- Confirm successful receipt of submissions
- Organize incoming work
- Identify records requiring action
- Reduce avoidable status enquiries
- Monitor author responses
- Support editorial workload management
- Recognize processing delays
- Maintain consistent records
- Improve administrative coordination
- Support submission reporting
Status information is therefore a small but important part of a larger journal management process.
Problems Caused by Poor Submission Status Management
Inconsistent status management can create confusion for both authors and editorial teams.
A vague status such as “Processing” may provide little useful information. The submission could be waiting for an editor, undergoing review, or simply sitting in an administrative queue.
Another problem occurs when statuses are updated manually but not maintained consistently. A submission may have progressed while its displayed status remains unchanged.
Too many statuses can also make the system difficult to understand. If every small administrative action creates a new status, authors may struggle to interpret what the labels mean.
Journals should therefore aim for a status structure that is detailed enough to provide useful information but simple enough to remain understandable.
How Should Journals Manage Submission Statuses?
A journal should document what each status means and establish clear rules for when it should be assigned.
This can include defining:
- The purpose of each status
- Who can assign it
- Which event triggers a change
- What information is visible to authors
- What internal information is restricted
- What action should follow
- Which statuses represent final outcomes
The journal should also review its status framework periodically. As editorial policies change, the software configuration and terminology may need to change with them.
For journals managing multiple publications, consistency can be particularly useful. Similar processes can use comparable status structures while still allowing individual journals to maintain their own policies.
Submission Status and Author Experience
Submission status directly affects how authors experience the journal after completing their submission.
A contributor who receives no indication of what happened after submission may be uncertain about whether the journal received the work successfully.
Providing a clear author-facing status can address some of this uncertainty.
The information does not need to reveal confidential editorial details. Instead, it should communicate the general condition of the submission and identify when the author needs to take action.
For example, a revision-related status should make it clear that the author has a pending responsibility rather than leaving them to infer what the journal expects.
Clear status communication can therefore reduce unnecessary back-and-forth while making the submission experience more professional.
Submission Status and Editorial Operations
For editorial teams, submission statuses can function as operational markers.
An editor may need to identify all submissions currently awaiting their attention. A managing editor may want to see submissions that have remained inactive for an extended period. An editorial assistant may need to locate records where authors have not completed a required action.
Status-based filtering can make these tasks easier.
This is particularly valuable when a journal receives a high volume of submissions. Instead of examining every record individually, staff can focus on groups of submissions that share the same current state.
Alkademy Press and Submission Status
Alkademy Press provides submission management within a broader platform for operating academic journals, allowing submission information to remain connected to the journal’s editorial environment.
Its author portal gives contributors a dedicated space for working with their submissions. Authors can save work before completion, upload manuscript files, and manage information associated with their submission rather than relying entirely on email communication with the editorial office.
For journal teams, submission information can be handled alongside the wider editorial operation. This is useful when several submissions are active at the same time because staff can work from the platform rather than maintaining separate administrative records for each manuscript.
Alkademy Press also supports role-based editorial access, which allows different members of the journal team to interact with submission information according to their responsibilities. This helps distinguish the experience of an author from that of an editor or administrator.
By connecting submission records with the journal’s broader editorial environment, Alkademy Press gives status information a practical operational context rather than treating it as a standalone field.
What Should You Look for in Submission Status Software?
When choosing a journal platform with submission status capabilities, consider whether its status system is understandable, flexible, and useful to the people who rely on it.
Important capabilities include:
- Clear submission status labels
- Configurable status options
- Author-facing status information
- Internal editorial statuses
- Status history
- Role-based permissions
- Status-based search and filtering
- Revision status management
- Author action indicators
- Notifications
- Submission history
- Editorial dashboard integration
- Multi-journal support
- Reporting capabilities
- Connections with peer review
- Integration with broader editorial workflows
The system should also make it easy for authorized users to update submission information without creating unnecessary administrative work.
Ultimately, good submission status management should provide a reliable answer to a simple question: What is the current state of this submission, and does anyone need to act on it?