Author Information

Guide to submission status indicators

Code	Stage	Notes
Oe	English language edit	Manuscript has been received. English language editing check results pending
0f	Grammar check	Manuscript has been received. Initial grammar check
0p	English language edit	Manuscript has been received. English language editing check
1a	Unevaluated new submission	Manuscript has been received. Initial compliance checks in progress.
1aa	Revised submission recheck	Files have been received for compliance recheck.
1ab	Editorial Compliance Checks	Manuscript has moved to editorial compliance check.
1al	Unevaluated Letter to the Editor	Submission has been received. Initial compliance checks in progress for Letter to the Editor
1da	Waiting for third party billing information	As stated
1e	Awaiting evaluation	Initial checks of the manuscript have highlighted queries to check with the author.
1ec	Awaiting co-author email addresses	Awaiting all co-author email addresses to be supplied, and sometimes a missing file.
1ed	Awaiting terms of publication	Awaiting main author to complete the Terms of Publication agreement.
1ee	Awaiting evaluation	Initial checks of the manuscript have highlighted queries to check with the author and/or Editor in Chief.
1f	Peer Review selection in process	As stated
2a	Peer review invitations sent	Peer reviewers have been invited and asked to respond rapidly.
2b	First peer reviewer allocated	The first peer reviewer has accepted to conduct a review of the paper.
2c	Two or more peer reviewers allocated	Multiple peer reviewers have accepted to undertake the review.
2d	First report returned	The first peer-review report has been received by our Editorial offices.
2e	Second or more peer reviewer reports returned	As stated.
2f	New reviewer(s) required	If insufficient reviewer comments are received or if the comments are inconclusive additional peer reviewers will be identified.
2fx	Awaiting COI	Awaiting all author Conflict of Interest forms to be supplied
2g	Report sent to Editor-in-Chief	Peer reviewer comments are sent to the Editor-in-Chief of the journal.
2gx	Editorial Pre-checks	We are performing some pre-checks before sending the paper for first decision.
3a	Provisional acceptance	We are currently processing the manuscript for any required corrections before acceptance.
3b	Report: Revise with changes	The Editor-in-Chief decides that the paper requires some changes or clarifications before it can be accepted for publication.
3cx	Report: Pending	The author is being contacted about the Editor-in-Chief's decision.
4a	Resubmission pending	Dove Medical Press Editorial has communicated the Editor-in-Chief's decision to the author(s) and Dove Medical Press is awaiting a revised and/or resubmitted manuscript.
4b	Resubmitted manuscript received	Revised manuscript received by the Dove Medical Press Editorial offices.
4bc	COI’s required (Revised manuscript received)	Conflict of Interest forms are still to be received for at least one of the authors of the paper.
4bd	Processing Revised Manuscript	Corrected revised manuscript has been submitted and is now being processed.
4c	Sent to Editor-in-Chief for acceptance or rejection	Revised manuscript sent to Editor-in-Chief for review of revisions and any decision to accept.
4cr	Peer Reviewer(s) second round	Editor-in-Chief has requested original reviewers to re review revised manuscript and authors responses.
4cx	Peer Reviewer(s) second round completed	Revised manuscript and second round reviewer comments sent to Editor-in-Chief for final decision.
4d	Awaiting author/peer reviewer confirmation	Query regarding revised manuscript, which has been received.
4e	Awaiting publisher decision	Dove Medical Press Editorial is discussing the final decision with the Editor-in-Chief.
5a/5ab	Final decision confirmation pending	The manuscript is provisionally accepted for publication pending Dove Medical Press Editorial review. Invoice to follow for submissions subject to article publishing charge.
5ad	Awaiting institutions approval	The manuscript is accepted awaiting approval by the institute to cover article publishing charge
5ay	Payment link sent	The manuscript is accepted and an Invoice link has been sent to author(s) to pay article publishing charge in RMB.
5b	Invoice sent	Dove Medical Press Editorial has sent an invoice for payment of the Publication Processing Fee to the author(s).
5c	Pre-copy edit checks	Manuscript is being prepared for copy editing.
5d	Pre-press/In preparation	Manuscript is being copy edited.
5f	Sent for pre-edit	Manuscript has been sent to typesetter for pre-edit. No action required from the author.
5g	Editing enquiry	Paper is on hold awaiting further information.
6a	Manuscript sent to typesetting	Manuscript is with the typesetter for first proof creation or updates to the proof. No action required from the author.
6ax	Return from Typesetter	The manuscript has been returned from the typesetter to Editorial team.
6b	Proofs sent to author	Typeset page proofs are sent to the author(s) for correction or approval. Please login using the link provided to submit the proof back to Editorial team.
6bx	Author returned corrections	The author has returned their corrections.
6d	Author approval	Page proofs approved by the author. At this point the manuscript is ready for publication.
6e	Author approval, pending	Page proofs approved by the author. Paper is on hold awaiting further information.
6ex	Sent to Typesetter for page numbering	The manuscript is sent for page numbering at the Typesetter.
6ey	Received from Typesetter after page numbering	The manuscript has been returned from the Typesetter with page numbers.
7d	Online final version is published	Typeset Manuscript is published online.
7e	File is converted to XML format for use by PubMed	Dove Medical Press Editorial commissions the conversion of papers for supply to PubMed.
7ex	XML conversion Batch Sent	Dove Medical Press Editorial sends the paper to PubMed for indexing.
7ey	XML conversion PubMed	The published manuscript is indexed on PubMed.
7f	Archive of manuscript	Manuscript is archived. All typesetting files, and published versions are archived.
7ff	Returned To Author Insufficient Peer Reviewers	After extensive efforts we have not been able to obtain the required number of reviewers for your manuscript.
7g	The paper has been withdrawn	The author has withdrawn the paper. The Editor may be in communication with the author. If this is the case, please contact Dove Medical Press for an update.
7h	Rejected by publisher	The manuscript has been rejected for publication.
7i	Publisher report pending	The author is being contacted about the Editor-in-Chief's final decision.
7j	Re submission	Awaiting response from author.

Updated 15 April 2026