It means an editor has taken your manuscript into peer review and is arranging the reviewers for this round. Nothing is needed from you while it says this.
That is the whole of what it means. It is a description of where the manuscript sits, not a measure of progress and not a hint about the outcome.
What it does not tell you
How many people have been asked. The banner does not carry that number, and we do not give it out. See What we do not tell you about peer review.
Whether anyone has said yes yet. The banner moves on when the round is under way. Until then it stays as it is.
How long the stage will take. This varies by journal, by field and by the paper, and we will not invent an average for you. Where a journal publishes an expected timeline, it appears on the banner itself.
Anything about the decision. No stage of the tracker is a signal, in either direction. Editors decide, after the reports are in.
If it has not changed for some time
That on its own does not tell you anything is wrong. Inviting reviewers on a specialised paper can take a while, and there is no way to read the length of this stage as good news or bad.
If you would like to know where yours actually stands, ask. Write to contact@asidejournals.com with the journal and the submission number. We will read your record and tell you what it says, including the parts the banner does not show. What we can tell you is bounded by the rule in the next article, and it is the same for every author.
What changes next
When the round is running, the banner moves to In review. When the reports are back with the editor, it moves to Reviews with the editor. When a decision is made you will receive a letter, and the banner changes to match it.
You do not have to watch the page. When a decision is made, or when something is needed from you, we write to you by email.