Hi all!

I submitted a paper to a journal a while back and I'm going to start with an admission - I've probably looked at the ScholarOne listing too much.

But what I have noticed is that the paper's status has gone through the 'awaiting referee scores' to 'awaiting recommendation' stages (which I found out after a little googling means there's likely to be a decision soon). Now, it's gone back to 'awaiting referee assignment' suggesting it's been sent out to review again before a decision is being made.

My question is: is it normal for a journal to send a manuscript for on two separate occasions before an initial decision?

Yes for a few different reasons, for example, reviewers may accept and then not actually review the paper and the reviewers may be split so the editor needs to bring in a third reviewer. Both cases require the paper to be sent out for review again and this will take a similar time as before.

My advice is to distract yourself with other things and just wait for them to get back to you.