Energies

Submission: 12 April
Initial revision completed: 22 May
Acceptance: 23 May
Publication: 27 May
Days from submission to publication: 44
Round of Revision: 1
The process was very fast. The external review started just a week or two after submission. There were three reviewers in total. When the feedback from the first reviewer came back, the editor sent me an email asking me to make the necessary changes based on the feedback. The initial revision took about a month, with two minor revisions and one major revision. The major revision was given a week for submission after the changes were made. Some reviewers provided very detailed and specific suggestions, with more than ten points. However, some reviewers seemed to be in a bad mood and mentioned that they had difficulty accepting the conclusion of my article, but their feedback was only a few general sentences, making it difficult to make the necessary changes. The editor was very efficient and quickly accepted the revised version. I had to make a bank transfer (2000CHF) which the journal confirmed upon receiving and sent a confirmation email. The next day, the status on the website was updated to "online". The publication process was smooth. They give you five days to make the payment, and it must be received within that time frame. If you cannot guarantee this, you can sign a payment commitment letter, which the editor will send to you via email (the editor's efficiency is high). Signing the letter allows for a one-month extension for payment, and the article will be published beforehand. Overall, this journal works at a fast pace, and I would recommend it to those in urgent need of publishing their articles.

It took a total of 20 days from submission to acceptance. Two days after submission, opinions from two reviewers were received. The first reviewer suggested major revisions, while the second reviewer highly appreciated the article. The editor then requested major revisions and gave a 7-day deadline for the revisions. Afterward, the opinions of the third reviewer, who also highly appreciated the article, were received. The editor then sought a fourth expert reviewer, who suggested adding a reference. After making the revisions, the second round of reviews returned after 3 days. The first reviewer was very difficult and rejected the article, while the other three reviewers had no further comments. The editor requested minor revisions and asked for a response to the first reviewer's comments. After 3 days, the response was submitted, and the next morning the article was accepted. Although the process was painful (mainly due to dealing with the first reviewer's comments, which made me want to give up, feeling helpless), the result was still very positive. After the first SCI publication, I felt no excitement because my research field is relatively niche, and only one top domestic university has a similar study published in this journal. Therefore, after experiencing four rejections (reason: not within the journal's scope), I chose this open-access journal (costing approximately 16,500 RMB). I wish the journal continued success!