Three Major Journals

The time for graduate school applications and recommendations came in the second half of every year, so even though Du Ke and Professor Tao had confirmed his graduate recommendation, there was nothing he needed to do for the time being.

So Du Ke continued doing what he normally did.

It was just that his relationship with Professor Tao had become far more amicable than their previous purely monetary arrangement.

A week later, after polishing it for long enough, his third paper, "How the Interactions of Forces in Electron Streams Maintain Equilibrium," was finally finished and handed to Professor Tao for revision.

Looking at the draft in his hands, Professor Tao was thrilled. "It's so much better than the half-finished version I saw last time. Not only is the content solid, but these illustrations are exquisite too. Look at this—what a beautiful mechanical equilibrium!" The images had been drawn by Du Ke himself, depicting how atoms, after passing through a barrier, formed two aggregate states—electron streams and proton streams—and how they maintained a relative balance of forces between them.

"This paper's pretty good, right? It's packed with substance."

"Packed to the brim!" Professor Tao praised him without hesitation. "If you combine these three papers into one, add some more detailed and in-depth research, then translate it into English and polish it up, I think you could submit it to Science or Nature. Really—especially this third paper. You've directly balanced the forces. It's like turning the previous concept from a blueprint into a real object."

Science was the journal Science, and Nature was the journal Nature. Both were the most prestigious SCI journals. Together with Cell, which focused on life sciences, nearly all of the world's most important and cutting-edge research findings were first published in these three journals.

It could be said that researchers around the world dreamed of publishing papers in these three major journals.

Of course, in terms of impact factor, these three journals ranked sixteenth, fifteenth, and twenty-first in 2020, all hovering around forty. More than a dozen journals ranked ahead of them with even higher impact factors, such as the legendary CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the Clinical Cancer Journal for Physicians, whose impact factor was as high as 292. It was only because of their differing focus that their impact factors were comparatively lower.

"Then why don't I just combine the three papers and submit them directly to Science and Nature?" Du Ke was eager to make a big splash.

Professor Tao hurriedly said, "Don't rush. Publish these three papers in the Journal of Chemical Physics first and build up some recognition for yourself. Then you can consolidate them and write a more detailed paper before submitting it to those two journals. That way, your chances of getting accepted will be higher. Otherwise, as an unknown newcomer, you might not even pass the initial review."

Even the most authoritative and prestigious SCI journals had their own social dynamics.

If you were a newcomer, your paper naturally faced a huge risk of rejection. If you had a reputation, then as long as your paper was not bad, it would generally pass. Of course, even as a newcomer, if a major figure recommended you, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance you would get through. Du Ke clearly did not fall into that category. He was both a newcomer and unacquainted with any major figures. Even if he wrote his paper like a masterpiece, it still faced a huge risk of rejection.

"Little Du, don't aim too high. You need to understand that top SCI journals all have their own little circles and tend to support their own people. Do you know what 'their own people' means? It means that if you've published in my journal, you're one of my people. If your teacher or recommender has published in my journal, then you're one of my people too. But you have no teacher and no published papers, unless your paper is vastly superior to every other paper in the journal."

After pausing, Tao Xun continued, "But think about it. Most of your electron stream theory is still conjecture. Even if the forces are balanced, that is still only an ideal state. No matter how you write it, you can't surpass those top-tier papers, right? How could Science or Nature possibly accept it?"

After thinking it over, Du Ke had to admit that made sense. How could papers published in Science or Nature possibly be so easily surpassed by him?

If he could not surpass others, what right did he have to snatch such a slot away from their papers? Behind publication lay immediate interests such as title evaluations and funding applications. Journal reviewers were people too, and naturally became entangled in those interests. Just publishing one paper in the three major journals was enough to find a job at any university in China.

Publish two, and he could take his pick of professorships at 985 Project universities or 211 Project universities.

"I was only joking. Professor Tao, after you revise them, just publish them in the Journal of Chemical Physics."

"By the way, Little Du, let me ask one more thing. Do you have a fourth paper?" Tao Xun looked at Du Ke with blazing eyes and intense anticipation. He always felt that Du Ke was a little too calm, as though he looked down on the Journal of Chemical Physics.

In a situation like this, either Du Ke was absurdly arrogant and had never been beaten down by society, or he was full of confidence because he had better options.

He had known Du Ke for half a year and did not think Du Ke was the arrogant sort. His conduct and morals were quite good. Clearly, he had taken some beatings from society to be tempered into what he was now.

"Well, I still need to think about it. I can't guarantee whether there'll be a fourth paper." Du Ke did not want to overpromise, so he answered cautiously.

Yet Tao Xun's eyes immediately lit up. "So that means there is one!"

"Uh, didn't I say I couldn't guarantee it?"

"Haha, do you think I can't see through you? Little Du, if there really wasn't one, you would definitely say so. Adding that you can't guarantee it means you do have one. Tell me, what are you planning to write your fourth paper about? What angle will you use to demonstrate the electron stream?" Professor Tao looked pleased with himself, growing more and more satisfied with his future student. He had probably reached the end of the road in academia. His paper output had severely declined in recent years, and he needed his students to keep up appearances.

"Let's keep it confidential for now. I'll tell you after I finish writing it. It'll indeed supplement the theoretical knowledge on electron streams."

"Good. I'll wait for it. You must let me read it first so I can enjoy it before anyone else."

"Of course."

Professor Tao left with the new paper. When he got home, he neither taught nor slept, instead burying himself in revisions with even more dedication than when he wrote his own papers. When his wife saw it, she could not help complaining.

"What would a woman like you know? This is Little Du's new paper!"

"What is it? Did Little Du write another paper?"

"Big news. Three papers published in a row—this is going to be huge. Find an excuse to invite him over for dinner again sometime. Keep in touch and build a good relationship with him. If I ever become a full professor, I'll probably have to ride Little Du's coattails through his papers." As Tao Xun spoke, he grew emotional. "Li Yun, do you know who Little Du reminds me of?"

Li Yun was Tao Xun's wife. She asked curiously, "Who?"

"Cao Yuan!"

"The prodigy Cao Yuan?"

"Mm. But Cao Yuan had been a genius from childhood to adulthood. I knew him when he was in the junior class. Every teacher at Xiake University knew him. Anyone who saw him said he was a genius who could not be taught properly in China, so he should go to MIT. Du Ke is different. He looks like the sort who is... completely ordinary... You would never imagine that he could come up with a theory like this."

"I think Little Du is quite handsome."

"Is something wrong with your brain? I'm talking about academic temperament!" Tao Xun's face immediately darkened. It was unclear whether he was upset that his wife had missed the point, or because she thought Du Ke was handsome.