Zhou Chen knew that his paper did have some flaws, which did not refer to academic correctness, but to the ease with which the paper was understood and accepted. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info His paper is too esoteric, and the group that can read it itself is a minority, which is incompatible with the standard of "Nature" that requires it to be written as plain and easy to understand as possible, if this is the reason for rejection, Zhou Chen can understand it.

Well, now that the manuscript has been rejected, Zhou Chen has no intention of revising the paper and submitting it to Nature as stated in the email.

Because he was rejected once, the result of several submissions was basically the same, and the problem was not the quality of the article, but the selection orientation of Nature could not accept his paper.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Chen took out his mobile phone and dialed the phone number of his mentor Yang Hexin, and reflected the situation to the tutor.

"Rejected?"

Yang Hexin was watching TV with his little granddaughter at home at this time, and was stunned for a moment after hearing the news, and then said to Zhou Chen with a smile: "Reject the manuscript, reject the manuscript, "Nature" looks famous, in fact, it is the same thing, they don't accept your paper is their loss, I think you should switch to other journals and magazines." ”

"But what I'm worried about is, which journals and magazines should I switch to?"

Zhou Chen said helplessly: "I want to vote for "Science", which is a comprehensive scientific journal with the same reputation as "Nature" and the most authoritative academic journal in the world, but "Nature" has already rejected the manuscript, and if it is rejected by "Science" again, it will be completely faceless." ”

"So that's what you're worried about!"

Yang Hexin laughed out loud, and said: "Which one of you who is engaged in academic research has not been rejected?" How can you be afraid of a momentary defeat for a while......"

"That's different, others failed because the level of the paper was not good, and the rejection was deserved, while I was rejected because it was purely a wrong choice."

Yang Hexin smiled dumbly and said, "Okay, okay, you are reasonable." ”

"Professor Yang, what journal do you think I should apply to?" Zhou Chen asked with a smile.

Yang Hexin thought for a while and said: "Now there are two directions to choose from, the first direction is to aim at influential journals, such as "Science", which can make your articles be seen by more people, and the effect is no less than that of "Nature"; The second direction is to submit articles to physics journals, such as Modern Physical Review, Physics Report, Physical Review Letters, etc., which are authoritative academic journals with international influence and more discipline-specific. ”

"Of course, it is up to you to choose which journal to invest in."

"Well, looks like I'll have to think about it again."

After ending the call with Yang Hexin, Zhou Chen pondered carefully.

In terms of the influence of the journals themselves, Science and Nature, two international comprehensive journals, are of course the preferred submission targets for scientific researchers. However, because their signboards are too large and there are many contributors, the probability of passing the review is much smaller. Other journals such as Modern Physical Review are undoubtedly more authoritative than Science and Nature, but the disadvantage is that they do not have the breadth of Science and Nature.

Should we submit a wider range of papers, or a more authoritative journal in the physics field?

Zhou Chen reflected on the reasons why he was rejected by Nature, and there is no doubt that this is not directly related to the quality of his paper, but mainly due to the choice of Nature itself.

It is easy to understand that Nature is an academic journal owned by the British Nature Publishing Group, and since it is a journal under the umbrella of a publishing house, it is easy to understand that each journal has its own policy, with some journals preferring to publish less or no controversial things, while Nature seems to encourage some controversial research.

Often, at the same time as or after the publication of controversial research, Nature organizes relevant discussions to allow different opinions to be expressed, which not only serves the purpose of enlivening and guiding scientific research, but also increases the visibility of the journal itself.

Therefore, it prefers to publish things that are more acceptable in the scientific community and at the same time can arouse everyone's interest and debate, and too esoteric and narrow research is not easy to publish in Nature.

In contrast to Nature, the journal Science, a subsidiary of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Science has a large review committee composed of world-renowned scientists. Unlike Nature, which requires an editor to review a manuscript and then send it to relevant experts for review. Science is obviously more rigorous in the review process and is less susceptible to the influence of the editors on duty.

Of course, the background and composition of these scientists on the review committee still have a great influence on the selection of manuscripts, and it is impossible to completely eliminate human influence.

It's just that in Zhou Chen's view, "Science", which has an academic background, can gain his trust to a large extent more than "Nature" with a business background.

This is no longer a question of who is better, but the concept of journals and journals, or the difference in operation mode, and the reality of "being rejected by Nature" makes Zhou Chen more inclined to Science.

After thinking about it for a while, and finding that his paper had a good chance of passing the review of Science, he decided not to consider authoritative journals such as Modern Physical Review.

……

On Yang Hexin's side, after ending the call with Zhou Chen, Yang Hexin did not put the matter down, he let his little granddaughter watch TV by herself, and dialed Liang Zhiyuan's landline instead, and told Liang Zhiyuan the news he got with a smile.

Liang Zhiyuan also said after hearing this, "A person's success is indispensable for grinding, and I don't think this matter is necessarily a bad thing for Zhou Chen." ”

"I think so too, so I didn't tell Xiao Chen which journal he should apply to, and let him make his own choice."

"That's right, a person's choice is very important, the right choice leads to success, and the wrong choice is nothing to complain about, it is nothing more than one more detour." Liang Zhiyuan said with a smile.

From the bottom of his heart, he values Zhou Chen's paper very much, and the reason why the paper was rejected was only because he had not met a reviewer who was optimistic about it.

"By the way, you didn't just call to tell me about it, did you?"

"Yes, I would like to ask you to help me inquire, what is the reason why Zhou Chen's article was rejected by Nature?"

Liang Zhiyuan is a big man in the industry and can speak in many places, and Yang Hexin found him, largely hoping to use his strength.

"Okay, it seems that you, as a mentor, are quite unconvinced......" Liang Zhiyuan said with a smile.

"But also, Zhou Chen is your senior apprentice, okay, I'll make a few calls and ask."