PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL

Overall, it took one year in total, with a total of four reviewers being changed.
In the first submission, it was directly rejected after review, but encouraged to resubmit. The experimental suggestions from two reviewers were included and the structure was optimized.
In the second submission, it was stated on the journal's homepage that it would be sent to the same reviewers, but possibly due to the editor's concerns about the additional experimental data from the first submission, it was sent to two different reviewers. One was positive and the other was negative. The editor rejected it again but encouraged resubmission.
The suggestions from the previous reviewer were quite logical and provided many references and experimental methods for reference. Therefore, many revisions were made in the third submission, and ultimately it was accepted with minor revisions.
Overall, the experience of submitting to this journal was quite frustrating, but some of the questions raised by the reviewers were indeed valid. Each time of resubmission, the editor also provided some suggestions for revisions. Perhaps this journal requires a very specific direction for better chances of acceptance.

Before I went abroad, PBJ was considered a third-rate magazine, and it was generally seen as a mediocre magazine overseas. I planned to publish my first article in PBJ for my Ph.D., but my American boss said that publishing in this magazine would not benefit my reputation and insisted on submitting it to PLOS Genetics (which has a good reputation abroad). However, PLOS Genetics did not even send it for review and it was eventually accepted by Plant J. Several classmates in China who are pursuing their Ph.D. have published several articles in PBJ by watering down their gene editing research. When they apply for jobs in China with Plant J publications, they are looked down upon. It's really frustrating knowing that it's not as good as publishing a few articles in PBJ. The standards for recognizing magazines in China and abroad are too far apart. Students who want to go abroad for prestige should think carefully.