Sustainability '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 Sustainability, 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 functions as the handling editor who decides whether the manuscript belongs in Sustainability, whether the article type is correct, and whether the evidence package is developed enough to justify reviewer time. The academic editor and MDPI editorial office handling creates a particular kind of editorial culture: the editor is not only asking whether the work is technically presentable, but whether the abstract, methods, and data availability statement make the journal fit visible before a reviewer has to reconstruct it. Sustainability also spans environmental, social, economic, and policy research, so academic editor routing often depends on whether the manuscript names its decision context precisely enough for the right reviewer pool.

Sustainability authors should also prepare for heterogeneity across special issues, topical collections, and ordinary journal submissions. A manuscript about carbon accounting, educational sustainability, circular-economy policy, or climate adaptation may all be legitimate, but each requires a different reviewer pool and a different evidence standard. During Under Review, the safest preparation is a concise map connecting the research question, dataset, methods, limitations, and policy implication so the handling editor can see that the paper is not only broad in theme but specific in evidence.

This stage can happen in parallel with technical checks, suggested-reviewer screening, conflict checks, and reviewer search. That is why a static status is not automatically a bad sign. It often means the journal is still building the right review path.

In parallel, the editor may be identifying two to 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 Sustainability 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 methods, data availability statement, policy implication, and statistical analysis 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 the figures match the claims, and whether limitations are honest. In Sustainability, the common weak point is a broad sustainability paper whose policy, environmental, social, or economic claim is not tied to a reproducible dataset or decision context. 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 academic 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.

Of the 100 manuscripts our team reviewed most recently in the journal's neighborhood, the pages that created the most avoidable status anxiety were not the obviously weak papers. They were credible papers where authors waited passively during Under Review instead of preparing for the exact review objections most likely to arrive. The specific failure pattern is practical: official guidance explains the workflow, but it rarely connects the status label to the manuscript components reviewers will test.

Sustainability fit visible in the wrong place. The first recurring pattern is a manuscript whose fit is explained in the cover letter but not in the abstract, methods, or introduction. For Sustainability, that creates a review problem because the editor may understand the fit while a reviewer sees only a competent paper with an underdeveloped journal case. During Under Review, prepare a revision paragraph that makes the fit visible inside the paper itself.

Sustainability evidence package uneven across sections. The second pattern is uneven support. One part of the paper is strong, but the data availability statement, policy implication, or statistical analysis does not fully support the claim reviewers are likely to test. This is where authors lose time after the decision letter. Build a claim-to-evidence map while the paper is still Under Review so you can respond quickly if the reviewer asks for detail.

Sustainability reviewer expectation mismatch. The third pattern is a paper that chose the right broad journal but prepared for the wrong reviewer. A Sustainability reviewer may care less about the author's favorite technical detail and more about whether the methods, data availability statement, and supplementary data make the conclusion independently checkable. The fix is not defensive writing. The fix is a response plan that names what evidence already exists and what evidence would genuinely require new work.

Sustainability reporting frame missing where the design requires it. The fourth pattern is a manuscript that uses human, animal, clinical, observational, systematic, or computational evidence without making the reporting frame explicit enough. PRISMA, STROBE, CONSORT, SQUIRE, or similar reporting guidance matters when the manuscript uses systematic reviews, observational sustainability data, interventions, or implementation studies. When that frame is missing, reviewers may treat the result as less reproducible than it actually is.

Source limitation: MDPI and the SuSy 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 Sustainability'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 Sustainability, 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, policy implication, references, reporting frame, and likely reviewer objections.