ROCK MECHANICS AND ROCK ENGINEERING

The second article accepted on RMRE went through major revisions, minor revisions, and acceptance, taking a total of 8 months (the previous one took 9 months, including the time for major revisions). During the same period, there were also articles from other research groups that were accepted after completing the process in 6 months (major revisions, minor revisions, and acceptance). In general, it is normal for the "submitted" status to last for two weeks, and for the "with editor" status to last for 1 to 2 months, so everyone should not panic.

In addition, when encountering unhelpful reviewers, it is important to remain calm and maintain a professional and objective attitude. Provide reasoned responses to their comments. The associate editor still has the authority to accept your paper even if the reviewers do not recommend it. This was the case for my second article, which had two reviewers. One was extremely positive, but the other reviewer seemed to have almost no understanding of my paper. They pointed out that it had similar results to my previous paper and asked me to emphasize the novelty. In fact, I was devastated when I read their comments because it indicated that they completely misunderstood the direction of my research. As expected, this reviewer still recommended rejection after the major revisions. Fortunately, the responsible editor (Professor Jianchun Li from Southeast University) believed that my paper was not similar to the previous one and had novelty. They provided two suggestions for minor revisions, and after making the revisions and resubmitting, my paper was accepted.

This journal is the official journal of the International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00603-020-02167-3). I feel that the reason it did not make it to the top is because there are no Chinese members in the core editorial team. It is a journal led by foreigners. Journals like the Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, even though they may not be as good as RMRE in various aspects, can make it to the top because they are our own people. Obviously, it's all about connections when it comes to Chinese people, not about academic qualifications. In other words, the classification by the Chinese Academy of Sciences is a game where they decide the rules. Many universities acknowledge it, and it's all about interests. A simple phone call from an academician can get you to the top. The Chinese Academy of Sciences Intelligence Research Center, a small institution, wouldn't dare to go against the academicians. Moreover, the calculation methods used by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Intelligence Research Center are complicated and convenient for them to manipulate. In the past, they could ignore the rules they set, but now it's difficult to criticize them. That's just their nature, so we have to get used to it. One day, when our influential figures join the core editorial team, we will easily reach the top.