Publication timeline of an article in a Scopus journal

In detail

Authors often perceive publication as a single moment: “the article came out.” In practice, an article has several successive stages, and each has its own status.

Main stages

• 1. Manuscript submission — the author sends the article through the journal’s editorial system.
• 2. Initial editorial screening — the topic, completeness of files, technical requirements, ethics, and formatting are checked.
• 3. Editor assignment — the manuscript is assigned to an editor or editorial board member.
• 4. Peer review — the article goes to external reviewers.
• 5. Decision — reject, minor revision, major revision, or accept.
• 6. Production stage — copyediting, typesetting, proofing, and preparation for publication.
• 7. Online first / Article in Press — the article appears online before final issue assignment.
• 8. Final publication — the article is assigned to a volume, issue, pages, or another final publication form.
• 9. Appearance in Scopus — after metadata transfer by the publisher and record processing, the article appears as an indexed document in the database.

What is important to remember

The statuses “accepted,” “published online,” “assigned to an issue,” and “indexed in Scopus” are not the same thing.