Molecules 'Under Review': What the Status Means

The first status period is not the full scientific review. It is the journal checking whether the record can be handled: files open correctly, the article type is plausible, author metadata is complete, disclosures are included, and the manuscript fits the broad journal scope. For Molecules, this stage matters because a small administrative issue can look like a peer-review delay from the author's side. If the status changes quickly to Under Review, read that as a routing signal, not as evidence that every reviewer has already accepted.

At this point the manuscript is being read for fit. The academic editor, section editor, and MDPI editorial office structure creates a specific editorial culture: the handling editor is not only asking whether the manuscript is polished, but whether full experimental details, compound characterization, spectra or raw image integrity, crystallographic deposition, and data availability statement make the journal fit visible before a reviewer has to reconstruct it. Molecules authors should treat this stage as a fit-and-evidence screen, not as a passive waiting room. The editor may be matching the manuscript to a section, checking article type, reading disclosures, evaluating suggested reviewers, and deciding whether the evidence package justifies external review.

Molecules also has a broad enough scope that routing quality matters. A paper can be real research and still create routing friction if the abstract, methods, and data availability statement point to different audiences. During Under Review, the safest preparation is a concise map connecting the research question, dataset, methods, limitations, and likely reviewer concern so the editor can see that the paper is not only technically competent but reviewable by the right expert group.

In parallel, the editor may be identifying two or three reviewers and checking whether the manuscript has the right scope for those reviewers. Recruiting reviewers can take 7 to 21 days when the topic sits between fields, depends on a specialized dataset, or needs both methodological and domain expertise. A Molecules manuscript can therefore show Under Review while the editor is still securing the right mix of reviewers.

For authors, the useful question is not "has someone accepted yet?" The useful question is "if a reviewer accepts today, would the manuscript's full experimental details, compound characterization, spectra or raw image integrity, crystallographic deposition, and data availability statement make the claim easy to evaluate?"

This is the main period in which reviewers evaluate the paper. They are usually checking whether the conclusion follows from the methods, whether the strongest comparison or control is present, whether figures match claims, and whether limitations are honest. In Molecules, the common weak point is a chemistry result whose characterization package is complete enough for the authors but not complete enough for reviewers to reproduce or verify. That weakness can produce long reviews because the reviewer is not only judging quality; they are trying to decide whether the paper is fixable within the journal's frame.

After reports arrive, the editor has to turn them into a decision. This can still look like Under Review, Reviews Complete, Required Reviews Complete, or Decision in Process depending on the portal. Do not assume silence during this period means rejection. It can mean the editor is reconciling mixed reports, checking whether one reviewer misunderstood the scope, or deciding whether the manuscript needs another opinion.

Not automatically. The most common explanation is reviewer recruitment or a delayed report, not a hidden rejection. The more useful interpretation is whether the elapsed time matches the stage. If the paper moved to Under Review quickly and then stayed there, the editor may still be waiting on one reviewer. If the status changed after several weeks, the editor may be synthesizing reports. If there has been no movement past 5 weeks, a polite inquiry is reasonable.

What you should not do is rewrite the manuscript in panic or submit elsewhere. Prepare the response materials that will matter if the decision is revise, reject with comments, or transfer.

The pages that create the most avoidable status anxiety are not always the obviously weak papers. They are credible papers where authors wait passively during Under Review instead of preparing for the exact review objections most likely to arrive. Official guidance explains the workflow, but it rarely connects the status label to the manuscript components reviewers will test.

• Molecules characterization gap: In Molecules manuscripts, reviewers often ask whether compound identity, purity, spectra, crystallographic records, or representative procedures are complete enough to reproduce the claim. Prepare a table that maps each new compound to the supporting manuscript component.

• Molecules image-integrity friction: In Molecules manuscripts, gels, blots, microscopy images, and spectra can create delay when original files are not easy to inspect. Before the decision arrives, make sure raw images and processed panels are named consistently in supplementary material.

• Molecules data-deposition risk: In Molecules manuscripts, sequence, crystallographic, omics, or large dataset accessions can become a publication blocker if they are incomplete. Audit the data availability statement and repository links while the status is still Under Review.

• Molecules scope-overclaim pattern: In Molecules manuscripts, a method can be interesting but framed too generally for the actual substrate scope, controls, or validation set. Draft a narrower abstract sentence that ties the result to the evidence reviewers can verify.

Risk 1: New compounds are reported without enough characterization context for a reviewer to verify identity and purity. During Under Review, prepare a response note that separates what is already in the manuscript from what can be clarified in revision. That lets you answer a reviewer quickly without inflating the claim or adding unsupported language.

Risk 2: Crystallographic, sequence, image, or supplementary data are referenced but not deposited or explained cleanly. During Under Review, prepare a response note that separates what is already in the manuscript from what can be clarified in revision. That lets you answer a reviewer quickly without inflating the claim or adding unsupported language.

Risk 3: A method is presented as general even though substrate scope, controls, or reproducibility evidence is thin. During Under Review, prepare a response note that separates what is already in the manuscript from what can be clarified in revision. That lets you answer a reviewer quickly without inflating the claim or adding unsupported language.

Risk 4: The paper fits chemistry broadly but does not make the specific Molecules article-type and section logic visible. During Under Review, prepare a response note that separates what is already in the manuscript from what can be clarified in revision. That lets you answer a reviewer quickly without inflating the claim or adding unsupported language.

Source limitation: MDPI and the official submission portal are the authorities for active status and editorial-office routing. Manusights adds manuscript-risk interpretation from pre-submission review work, not private access to a specific active editorial file.

Decision in process usually means the editor has enough information to write or release a decision. It is not useful to email at that exact moment unless the journal requests action. Use the time to prepare three response paths: a clean revision response, a rejection-with-transfer plan, and a redirect plan if the decision says the manuscript is outside Molecules's fit.

Treat the revision as a reviewer-risk document, not just a marked manuscript. Build the response around reviewer comments, action taken, manuscript location, and evidence. If a reviewer misunderstood the work, answer with a clearer figure, paragraph, or table rather than only saying they misunderstood.

Do not waste the reviewer reports. Separate concerns into three groups: fatal journal-fit concerns, fixable presentation concerns, and evidence gaps that require new work. A rejection after Under Review can still be useful if it tells you whether the manuscript should be rebuilt for Molecules, transferred inside the publisher ecosystem, or moved to a better-matched venue.

Do not submit elsewhere. Do not send repeated status emails. Do not add new analyses to the submitted file unless the editor requests them. Do not assume that a quiet Under Review status means a negative decision. The productive action is to audit the abstract, methods, data availability statement, references, reporting frame, and likely reviewer objections.