JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY A

Share an unpleasant submission experience in this journal. In 2021, I submitted two papers on plasma physics to JVST-A. The editor suggested transferring both papers to JVST-B, stating that my research direction was more suitable for publication in B. However, my previous research achievements had been successfully published in A in the previous years, and the subsequent research results were closely related to the previous ones. It was inexplicable and unacceptable to be transferred to JVST-B. Moreover, the review process this time was also very slow. The review process of one of the papers is as follows:

September 14, 2021: Submitted the paper to JVST-A.
December 17, 2021: Three months later, received the initial review comments from two reviewers. One recommended publication after minor revisions, while the other recommended publication after major revisions. Both reviewers' comments were very positive, totaling only 8-9 modification suggestions. However, the editor suggested mandatory revisions and informed me that this paper would be published in JVST-B after acceptance, requiring us to reply to the editor's suggestions.
January 3, 2022: Submitted the revised manuscript and clearly stated in the reply that I refused to have the paper published in JVST-B.
February 8, 2022: Received the second review comments. One reviewer suggested direct publication, while the other raised two minor issues. The editor recommended publication after minor revisions.
February 10, 2022: Submitted the revised manuscript again.

On February 14, 2022, I received a notification from the editor stating that my paper has been accepted and will be transferred to Journal B for publication.
Upon reading the editor's email, I became instantly flustered. I immediately wrote an appeal email to the editor on the same day, informing them that we have clearly declined to have the paper published in Journal B based on the initial review comments. If the editor insists on proceeding with this, we will have to request the withdrawal of the paper and urge the editor to respond promptly.
On February 15, I received an apology email from the editor, stating that my paper was mistakenly marked for future publication in JVST-B during the initial submission, despite our clear refusal. They acknowledged that this marking was not corrected based on our response and admitted their mistake, expressing sincere apologies... I am speechless.
In conclusion, the review process has been extremely bizarre and the duration has been excessively long. It took over three months for the first review, and the whole process lasted for five months. The paper did not require major revisions, and the efficiency of the review process is questionable. Moreover, it has been inexplicably redirected to JVST-B, which is unacceptable.