PATHOLOGY RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

After submitting the article, I followed up on the progress and kept receiving replies indicating that they were inviting experts and undergoing external review. Two and a half months later, I asked if the review from the editor had returned. The editor may have thought I was rushing them, as the very next day they provided a suggestion to submit to another journal. However, the journal they suggested turned out to be a predatory publication. In my email response, I mentioned that the journal they suggested was a predatory one and asked if they could provide any external review comments so I could improve the article. The email reply simply thanked me for waiting and stated that my feedback had been forwarded to the journal, who would contact me directly for further discussion and final decision. However, I never received a response to that email. When I logged back into the submission system, I found that the submission had been changed to a rejection. This journal is just unbelievable, they are unethical and do not take authors seriously. It was a complete waste of two and a half months. They kept saying that my article was not forgotten, but the truth is that it was indeed forgotten. As soon as I asked for an update, they immediately suggested submitting elsewhere. This is terrible.

In general, I won't comment on the journal. However, they kept dragging me for six months without finding reviewers. Considering the impact of the pandemic and the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, I patiently waited. However, when they finally responded after six months, they rejected my paper, claiming it lacked innovation. Where is their conscience? This delay of six months could affect a student's ability to graduate or pursue a direct doctorate. It also caused me to miss out on a national scholarship. Some comments may suggest that the journal is good, but I can't speak for others. It was a terrible experience for me. I suggest withdrawing your paper if you haven't received any updates for two months and find another route. They were extremely unfriendly towards me. A negative review!