SCI Journal

"Professor Tao, please finish reading it before you judge." Du Ke remained calm.

After all, it was a product of the Fantasy World. Its structure differed drastically from anything on Earth, so the principles behind it naturally far exceeded the current boundaries of Earth's science.

That made Du Ke's paper truly reek of amateur science.

"Ah!" Professor Tao shook his head, becoming somewhat distracted, but he continued reading.

The opening explanatory passage was dry, without even a trace of rhetoric, making his eyes hurt. Some of the academic terminology was not even standardized. It seemed to offer a lofty perspective from the macro level, but in his eyes, it was all empty boasting—the sort of thing amateur scientists loved most.

Professor Tao looked down on it inwardly and began skimming through it. But after turning a page, as the grandiose and empty phrases accumulated, he gradually began to sense something more to it.

It seems to be proposing a theoretical concept? He slowed down from his rapid skimming and began reading carefully.

That reading took five minutes.

After finishing the entire paper, he immediately returned to the first page and carefully read it all over again.

Only after Professor Tao had finished his second reading did Du Ke ask with a smile, "Well?"

"Hiss..." Professor Tao looked at Du Ke in great surprise. After a long while, he replied, "Did you really write this paper?"

"How could that be fake?"

"It certainly couldn't be fake. A plagiarism check would never find it, considering how many incorrect academic terms it contains."

"Ahem, ahem. Focus on the content."

"The content... how should I put it?" Professor Tao carefully chose his words. "My first impression was that it was rather fantastical and impractical. But after thinking about it again, your paper's proposed separation of electron flow and proton flow really is a bold and innovative idea. But honestly, it would be far too difficult to achieve."

It might be difficult for Earthlings, but in the Fantasy World, even a caterpillar could do it. Du Ke continued, "Then, Professor Tao, do you think my paper can be published?"

"Revise the wording and polish it up a little. Perhaps an academic journal will publish it, though that depends on whether the editor appreciates your proposal. Also, I think 'Feasibility Study of Compressed Electron Aggregation States' would be better changed to 'A Proposal for Compressed Electron Aggregation States.' It might have a better chance of being accepted."

"All right, I'll revise it when I get back. By the way, Professor Tao, do you have any good academic journals you could recommend?"

"The Journal of Chemical Physics. It is an academic journal run by the Chinese Physical Society and published at Huaxia University of Science and Technology. Its impact factor is a little poor this year, only 0.4, but it is fairly suitable for publishing a paper like yours. I can also recommend you to them. I know many people on their editorial board."

"Isn't that impact factor a little low?"

"It is a little low, but with my recommendation, your chances of acceptance will be much higher. There are SCI journals in the country with higher impact factors, but they receive many submissions. Their editorial board members have to read several papers every day, so if they see yours and do not examine it closely, they might casually reject it."

"But an impact factor of only 0.4..." Du Ke felt somewhat dissatisfied.

After all, though this was merely a preliminary paper, it represented a vast new system. Even if it could not make an immediate sensation, it should at least have a good opening.

Professor Tao spread his hands. "Take it slow. You are still a complete newcomer. You have not published a single paper and have only participated in paper design. Build up some experience first, then aim higher. Besides, the Journal of Chemical Physics I chose for you is not a low starting point. You would be starting with an SCI journal!"

SCI stood for Science Citation Index. Journals included in SCI were SCI journals, and once a paper was cited, it could gain an impact factor.

Within Huaxia, one of the prerequisites for promotion to professor or researcher, or for awarding doctoral and master's degrees, was publishing a certain number of SCI papers. Although the state repeatedly demanded that people not blindly pursue SCI papers, at present, anyone who wanted to advance still had to publish SCI papers.

"Can I submit to several SCI journals at the same time?"

"It is best not to. Simultaneous submissions and duplicate submissions can get you blacklisted by journal editorial boards." Seeing that Du Ke was unwilling to accept that, Professor Tao pondered for a moment before saying, "How about submitting to Plasma Science and Technology first? Its impact factor is around 1.2. See whether their editorial board will accept it."

"Fine. I'll revise it and submit it right away."

"Wait. You also need to translate it into English. If you want to publish in an SCI journal, you need an English version. Of course, you could also submit to Acta Physica Sinica. It has an impact factor of 0.6 and is a Chinese-language journal. But honestly, its influence is not even as good as Huaxia University of Science and Technology's Journal of Chemical Physics."

"My English is terrible. Looks like I can only use machine translation. Or perhaps Professor Tao, you could help me translate and polish it." Du Ke decided to keep paving the way with money.

Professor Tao had no objection. "All right. I'll find time to polish it and translate it into English. But do not expect my translation to be especially good. Even when I write papers myself, I have to consult an English dictionary."

"That's fine. As long as it passes. If the paper is high quality and the theory is advanced, then even if I write only in Chinese in the future, plenty of people will help translate it." Du Ke was brimming with confidence. The paper he intended to publish contained entirely new technical achievements. Once they were realized, he could even speak of dominating New Energy.

Professor Tao worked quickly when paid. A week later, he had revised a new version of Du Ke's paper.

Du Ke promptly mailed it to the editorial department of Plasma Science and Technology. After submitting it and leaving his contact information, he buried himself in preparing his second paper. With electron flow alone, he planned to write ten papers, guiding this system into existence and giving others room to imagine.

The true core technology certainly could not be casually published. What he published were merely theoretical concepts, or, as Professor Tao put it, "grandiose empty talk."

Or perhaps they could be called creative ideas. The principle of an atomic bomb was simple, for example, but which country dared claim it could casually build one?

Without core technology and raw material support, at most they could make a dirty bomb.

Time passed swiftly. In the blink of an eye, two weeks had gone by. As expected, his paper was rejected by Plasma Science and Technology.

"I told you, didn't I? Your paper's strength lies in its bold proposal. The idea is very good, but the content itself is not outstanding. Its rejection was to be expected. Submit it to the Journal of Chemical Physics instead. I'll recommend you, and the chances of passing review will be very high." Professor Tao sipped Longjing Tea and spoke comfortably.

"Ah, all I can say is that the reviewing editor was blind. By the way, Professor Tao, I wrote another paper. Please take another look at it for me."

"Another one?" Professor Tao was surprised. "Have you come up with another new idea?"

He opened the neatly printed A4 pages. The title was striking—"Accelerating Proton and Electron Separation Using the Partition Method."

"Hmm, it is a new paper continuing from the previous one. Not bad, Little Du. One after another—looks like you have been planning this for a long time." This time, Professor Tao no longer regarded Du Ke as an amateur scientist, so he read very carefully starting from the abstract. The paper was only six thousand words long, yet he spent ten minutes reading it.

After finishing, he raised his head and slowly let out a long breath.