When / how should I ask about a manuscript's status in review?

I don’t know your field, but in mine (theoretical computer science), you have to get used to long review processes. My personal rule is to contact the journal six months after submission. Given recent events, my new, additional rule is to also state upon submission that I can suggest referees if need be.

As EpiGrad commented, the four weeks time certainly refers to the time allowed to the referee. But additional stages take longer: a first quick scan of your paper to decide whether it’s worth troubling an editor with it; then the editor has to find referees; and, assuming they all complete their reviews in time, the editor also needs a little bit of time to reach a decision based on the reviews. Moreover, your paper might not be their top priority.

As for the “how”, something like this would do:

Dear Editor,

I understand that you must be extremely busy, but I was wondering about the status of my manuscript [title, reference number] that I submitted on [date]. Have you heard back from the referees yet?

Thanks a lot for your time.

Best regards, [name]

I think an answer to this really depends on a lot of things: at least on the journal and the field you are in.

I am from mathematics and there I usually ask after 6 month. Only for journals which are known for long refereeing times I sometimes wait for 9 month.

By the way: The American Mathematical Society publishes a list of expected waiting times and backlogs for some mathematical journals (see e.g. here or google "AMS journal backlog").

I believe that accepted answer is too informal for some people. I prepared following template for myself. Using following link and Coursera professional email course. I waited 4 months before sending this email.

Subject: Inquiry about my submitted article (#XXXX) to Journal - JOURNALNAME

Dear Dr. EDITORNAMESURNAME

My name is NAME SURNAME, and I am first author of article #XXXX (TITLE).
We submitted our article to journal JOURNALNAME on SUBMISSIONDATE.

We have not received an update regarding the status of our manuscript.
Could you let us know when we can expect notice regarding the decision of the editorial board?

Thank you for your time and effort.
Best Regards,


NAME SURNAME