I got the following comment from a reputed math journal. What does it mean?What does it indicate if a professor from other departments is included in applied math department?What are the ethics of getting help from online forums?Feedback for a student showing improvementHow to choose between very good journals in mathematics?How to inform the editor that they sent me the wrong PDF attachment?“Exceptional candidates from other areas may also be considered”. What does this mean?How to know if my research problem is interesting or not?What does “contributed paper session” mean?When to retract a submission due to excessive length of peer-review processWhat is the etiquette for resubmitting math papers?
Using Past-Perfect interchangeably with the Past Continuous
Can other pieces capture a threatening piece and prevent a checkmate?
Print last inputted byte
Is it true that good novels will automatically sell themselves on Amazon (and so on) and there is no need for one to waste time promoting?
Maths symbols and unicode-math input inside siunitx commands
Existence of a celestial body big enough for early civilization to be thought of as a second moon
What does "Four-F." mean?
Adding Coordinates to shapefile using ArcPy
Could Sinn Fein swing any Brexit vote in Parliament?
World War I as a war of liberals against authoritarians?
Do I need to consider instance restrictions when showing a language is in P?
Unfrosted light bulb
Asserting that Atheism and Theism are both faith based positions
Why is indicated airspeed rather than ground speed used during the takeoff roll?
How can an organ that provides biological immortality be unable to regenerate?
What is the reasoning behind the choice of 2^256-2^32-977 for the prime on the secp256k1 curve?
What is the English word for a graduation award?
Bash - pair each line of file
Should I use acronyms in dialogues before telling the readers what it stands for in fiction?
I seem to dance, I am not a dancer. Who am I?
Calculate the frequency of characters in a string
Can "few" be used as a subject? If so, what is the rule?
Do people actually use the word "kaputt" in conversation?
Practical application of matrices and determinants
I got the following comment from a reputed math journal. What does it mean?
What does it indicate if a professor from other departments is included in applied math department?What are the ethics of getting help from online forums?Feedback for a student showing improvementHow to choose between very good journals in mathematics?How to inform the editor that they sent me the wrong PDF attachment?“Exceptional candidates from other areas may also be considered”. What does this mean?How to know if my research problem is interesting or not?What does “contributed paper session” mean?When to retract a submission due to excessive length of peer-review processWhat is the etiquette for resubmitting math papers?
I got this comment after more than 75 days of submission:
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
What does it mean?
mathematics feedback
edited yesterday
Ooker
4,90553191
asked 2 days ago
Sid BrownSid Brown
14625
New contributor
Sid Brown is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
|
show 10 more comments
I got this comment after more than 75 days of submission:
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
What does it mean?
mathematics feedback
edited yesterday
Ooker
4,90553191
asked 2 days ago
Sid BrownSid Brown
14625
New contributor
Sid Brown is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
16
I would considered politely asking for a clarification. It is quite a cryptic message you've got there.
– Gabriel
yesterday
4
I would politely ask for a copy of the reviews sent from the reviewers to the editor. Normally, one would get a copy of those. The otherwise fluent English used in the letter suggests to me that the comment is not written by the editor but one of the reviewers. Please note that you work is not being classified as bad or wrong. Rightly or wrongly it is judged to be within the grasp of too many. While rejection is always unpleasant, you should not ignore this distinction. By the way, a 75 day wait is very short. Many manuscript take much longer to process.
– Carl Christian
yesterday
33
I would suggest against asking for a clarification. This seems like the whole text of the review. The English is lacking, but the outcome is clear: your paper is (allegedly) way too simple for this journal. Right or wrong, that's their decision. You have little to gain by arguing. After such a comment, there isn't much that you can write that would make the editor reconsider. If they had doubts about the review, they would already have invited another reviewer. Move on, and submit it somewhere else.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
No, a paper need not be hard to grasp to be publishable. But it needs to deal with a problem of interest to the mathematical community, and whatever the reviewer meant precisely, it is clear that they do not believe the problem to be in this category.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
Unfortunately, sometimes reviewers don't do a good job reviewing. Worse, sometimes a problem can be very tough and then seem trivial once one has seen the solution. My advice is to send the paper to another journal, probably a slightly weaker one than you saw previously, and make sure that the paper has a detailed section illustrating what prior work has been done on the problem and why people care. that should do a better job getting a reviewer to realize the paper is interesting and non-trivial.
– JoshuaZ
yesterday
|
show 10 more comments
I got this comment after more than 75 days of submission:
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
What does it mean?
mathematics feedback
edited yesterday
Ooker
4,90553191
asked 2 days ago
Sid BrownSid Brown
14625
New contributor
Sid Brown is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I got this comment after more than 75 days of submission:
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
What does it mean?
mathematics feedback
mathematics feedback
edited yesterday
Ooker
4,90553191
asked 2 days ago
Sid BrownSid Brown
14625
New contributor
Sid Brown is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited yesterday
Ooker
4,90553191
asked 2 days ago
Sid BrownSid Brown
14625
New contributor
Sid Brown is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited yesterday
Ooker
4,90553191
edited yesterday
Ooker
4,90553191
edited yesterday
Ooker
4,90553191
4,90553191
asked 2 days ago
Sid BrownSid Brown
14625
New contributor
Sid Brown is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 2 days ago
Sid BrownSid Brown
14625
asked 2 days ago
Sid BrownSid Brown
14625
14625
New contributor
Sid Brown is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Sid Brown is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Sid Brown is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
16
I would considered politely asking for a clarification. It is quite a cryptic message you've got there.
– Gabriel
yesterday
4
I would politely ask for a copy of the reviews sent from the reviewers to the editor. Normally, one would get a copy of those. The otherwise fluent English used in the letter suggests to me that the comment is not written by the editor but one of the reviewers. Please note that you work is not being classified as bad or wrong. Rightly or wrongly it is judged to be within the grasp of too many. While rejection is always unpleasant, you should not ignore this distinction. By the way, a 75 day wait is very short. Many manuscript take much longer to process.
– Carl Christian
yesterday
33
I would suggest against asking for a clarification. This seems like the whole text of the review. The English is lacking, but the outcome is clear: your paper is (allegedly) way too simple for this journal. Right or wrong, that's their decision. You have little to gain by arguing. After such a comment, there isn't much that you can write that would make the editor reconsider. If they had doubts about the review, they would already have invited another reviewer. Move on, and submit it somewhere else.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
No, a paper need not be hard to grasp to be publishable. But it needs to deal with a problem of interest to the mathematical community, and whatever the reviewer meant precisely, it is clear that they do not believe the problem to be in this category.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
Unfortunately, sometimes reviewers don't do a good job reviewing. Worse, sometimes a problem can be very tough and then seem trivial once one has seen the solution. My advice is to send the paper to another journal, probably a slightly weaker one than you saw previously, and make sure that the paper has a detailed section illustrating what prior work has been done on the problem and why people care. that should do a better job getting a reviewer to realize the paper is interesting and non-trivial.
– JoshuaZ
yesterday
|
show 10 more comments
16
I would considered politely asking for a clarification. It is quite a cryptic message you've got there.
– Gabriel
yesterday
4
I would politely ask for a copy of the reviews sent from the reviewers to the editor. Normally, one would get a copy of those. The otherwise fluent English used in the letter suggests to me that the comment is not written by the editor but one of the reviewers. Please note that you work is not being classified as bad or wrong. Rightly or wrongly it is judged to be within the grasp of too many. While rejection is always unpleasant, you should not ignore this distinction. By the way, a 75 day wait is very short. Many manuscript take much longer to process.
– Carl Christian
yesterday
33
I would suggest against asking for a clarification. This seems like the whole text of the review. The English is lacking, but the outcome is clear: your paper is (allegedly) way too simple for this journal. Right or wrong, that's their decision. You have little to gain by arguing. After such a comment, there isn't much that you can write that would make the editor reconsider. If they had doubts about the review, they would already have invited another reviewer. Move on, and submit it somewhere else.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
No, a paper need not be hard to grasp to be publishable. But it needs to deal with a problem of interest to the mathematical community, and whatever the reviewer meant precisely, it is clear that they do not believe the problem to be in this category.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
Unfortunately, sometimes reviewers don't do a good job reviewing. Worse, sometimes a problem can be very tough and then seem trivial once one has seen the solution. My advice is to send the paper to another journal, probably a slightly weaker one than you saw previously, and make sure that the paper has a detailed section illustrating what prior work has been done on the problem and why people care. that should do a better job getting a reviewer to realize the paper is interesting and non-trivial.
– JoshuaZ
yesterday
16
16
I would considered politely asking for a clarification. It is quite a cryptic message you've got there.
– Gabriel
yesterday
I would considered politely asking for a clarification. It is quite a cryptic message you've got there.
– Gabriel
yesterday
4
4
I would politely ask for a copy of the reviews sent from the reviewers to the editor. Normally, one would get a copy of those. The otherwise fluent English used in the letter suggests to me that the comment is not written by the editor but one of the reviewers. Please note that you work is not being classified as bad or wrong. Rightly or wrongly it is judged to be within the grasp of too many. While rejection is always unpleasant, you should not ignore this distinction. By the way, a 75 day wait is very short. Many manuscript take much longer to process.
– Carl Christian
yesterday
I would politely ask for a copy of the reviews sent from the reviewers to the editor. Normally, one would get a copy of those. The otherwise fluent English used in the letter suggests to me that the comment is not written by the editor but one of the reviewers. Please note that you work is not being classified as bad or wrong. Rightly or wrongly it is judged to be within the grasp of too many. While rejection is always unpleasant, you should not ignore this distinction. By the way, a 75 day wait is very short. Many manuscript take much longer to process.
– Carl Christian
yesterday
33
33
I would suggest against asking for a clarification. This seems like the whole text of the review. The English is lacking, but the outcome is clear: your paper is (allegedly) way too simple for this journal. Right or wrong, that's their decision. You have little to gain by arguing. After such a comment, there isn't much that you can write that would make the editor reconsider. If they had doubts about the review, they would already have invited another reviewer. Move on, and submit it somewhere else.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
I would suggest against asking for a clarification. This seems like the whole text of the review. The English is lacking, but the outcome is clear: your paper is (allegedly) way too simple for this journal. Right or wrong, that's their decision. You have little to gain by arguing. After such a comment, there isn't much that you can write that would make the editor reconsider. If they had doubts about the review, they would already have invited another reviewer. Move on, and submit it somewhere else.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
4
No, a paper need not be hard to grasp to be publishable. But it needs to deal with a problem of interest to the mathematical community, and whatever the reviewer meant precisely, it is clear that they do not believe the problem to be in this category.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
No, a paper need not be hard to grasp to be publishable. But it needs to deal with a problem of interest to the mathematical community, and whatever the reviewer meant precisely, it is clear that they do not believe the problem to be in this category.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
4
Unfortunately, sometimes reviewers don't do a good job reviewing. Worse, sometimes a problem can be very tough and then seem trivial once one has seen the solution. My advice is to send the paper to another journal, probably a slightly weaker one than you saw previously, and make sure that the paper has a detailed section illustrating what prior work has been done on the problem and why people care. that should do a better job getting a reviewer to realize the paper is interesting and non-trivial.
– JoshuaZ
yesterday
Unfortunately, sometimes reviewers don't do a good job reviewing. Worse, sometimes a problem can be very tough and then seem trivial once one has seen the solution. My advice is to send the paper to another journal, probably a slightly weaker one than you saw previously, and make sure that the paper has a detailed section illustrating what prior work has been done on the problem and why people care. that should do a better job getting a reviewer to realize the paper is interesting and non-trivial.
– JoshuaZ
yesterday
|
show 10 more comments
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
My educated guess is that the reviewer is a native speaker of German and mistranslated some terms into English:
The German word Übung translates both to practice and to exercise.
In German universities, höhere Mathematik (literally: higher mathematics) was used as a label for mathematics courses for students of other scientific fields or engineering. At times, this only referred to the calculus courses (and not the linear-algebra courses). In particular, these courses usually focus on applying mathematical concepts and do not compare to courses for students of mathematics. (I wouldn’t be surprised if you can still find this label in use somewhere.)
If my guess is correct, the reviewers comment means something along the lines of:
This manuscript is just a (demonstrative) exercise in undergraduate mathematics and therefore not suitable for publication in a high-level journal.
So, your manuscript was rejected because it allegedly does not feature any new mathematics.
edited yesterday
Uwe
1,451613
answered yesterday
Wrzlprmft♦Wrzlprmft
34.2k9108185
7
I came to a similar conclusion without thinking about it being a translation issue: the problem is (already) a practice in some kind of mathematics, therefore it's not suitable as a paper for a high-level journal (which only publishes novel things).
– Mehrdad
yesterday
Incidentally the old name for calculus in Vietnamese is also "high-level math". During the Vietnam war we imported education from the USSR, so I wonder if this name also exists in Russian
– Ooker
yesterday
Also, the German word "betrachtet" translates to "considered" and "regarded". The usage of the first translation seems a bit strange here.
– rexkogitans
23 hours ago
3
This sentence would mean pretty much the same thing as your German intepretation if you translated it literally into Polish. It may be a bit of a leap, but I suppose the same is likely to be true for (most?) other central European languages.
– tomasz
18 hours ago
3
@Ooker It is the same in most of Central and Eastern Europe ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
– Vladimir F
14 hours ago
add a comment |
Seems to me that there's a missing word, and the correct comment might be something more like:
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high school mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
In other words, your manuscript is too simple to be published in an academic journal.
edited yesterday
Buffy
53k15170262
answered 2 days ago
AllureAllure
32.7k1999151
5
Even then, it is a strange formulation, but I suppose the one writing it might not be great at English ("a practice" does not really make sense here on its own).
– Tobias Kildetoft
2 days ago
22
"a practice" instead of "an exercise" could be poor translation from a different language
– Thomas
2 days ago
22
Could be. Or maybe they mean something like "a (standard) practice in higher mathematics." Either way, a poorly written comment indicating that the paper's contribution is not sufficiently significant.
– cag51
yesterday
4
@cag51 This should be the answer.
– Captain Emacs
yesterday
4
Unfortunately it means that the manuscript is rejected. The only thing you can do is being disappointed that it took almost three months to receive an answer (that in addition might be poorly written).
– Alchimista
yesterday
|
show 2 more comments
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics...
In context, I would translate this into native English as:
In higher mathematics, the problem considered in this manuscript is just an exercise...
In other words, a routine calculation that has nothing new to say. Sorry.
answered yesterday
TonyKTonyK
20913
New contributor
TonyK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Sorry that is completely wrong!
– Sid Brown
yesterday
11
@SidBrown You're asking your question because you don't know what the review means. So I don't think you're in a position to declare that interpretations of it are "completely wrong!"
– David Richerby
10 hours ago
@SidBrown this seems completely right to me. What strikes you as wrong about it? At least give some info instead of just making a statement like that
– user94036
6 hours ago
@tonyk because the problem the manuscript deals cannot be considered just an exercise.
– Sid Brown
3 hours ago
add a comment |
This seems really odd. Is this the journal you submitted to?
Why
It took 75 days to receive a 1 sentence answer in English that makes no sense.
Even if it was high-school level, any peer reviewer would be expected to write more than a single bad English sentence.
There should be multiple reviews, and the editor should have sent a single sentence review back for more details without being asked.
What to do
If you are a grad student, take this to your advisor. There is a good chance they can contact the editor, and will have more clout than you (unless you are a professor).
If you are affiliated with a university, ask others in the field about it. If there are multiple people with single sentence reviews, push back on the conference as a group.
At least reach out to the editor. Say
I'm not sure what this sentence means. This is the only review I
received from my submission, and I'm not sure what it means or why my paper was rejected.
EDIT:
I thought it might be a desk rejection, but the message isn't boilerplate. I'm also not convinced the review meant "high-school".
Reasoning
If it was a high-school caliber entry, and the editor caught it, why not send a form letter or ignore it?
I have a difficult time seeing how "high-school math" can be anything but an insult. Why not just use words like stupid outright?
answered yesterday
sevensevenssevensevens
4,236924
8
About the multiple reviews and just one sentence: It could be a desk rejection coming from the editor, so it may not even been sent to the reviewers. And if the paper is really bad, there's no point in writing a detailed rejection.
– Massimo Ortolano
yesterday
13
If someone sends math at high school level to a journal, why should I as a reviewer write more than one line pointing that out? If it truly is an exercise in high school math, then there is nothing that will make it publishable, and it will be a waste of my time to try to point out things that might make it so. And it is very common for even very good math journals to have just a single reviewer.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
Just because the journal uses English language, doesn't mean that English is necessarily the first language of any given reviewer. I also doubt that "high school" is the correct implication. I'm strongly thinking "higher mathematics".
– Buffy
yesterday
2
@sevensevens yes that is the journal.
– Sid Brown
yesterday
2
what makes you think that it's the journal?
– Ooker
yesterday
|
show 5 more comments
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals
Probably he means "high school". But, Gauss found many solutions in his high school years... Nobody exactly defined where "high school" ends. Because in my high school, I modelled Frank-Hertz experiment. With complicated enough approach this could become Plasma Physics article, enough for publication in any scientific grade journal.
Another probability is that they think subject lies in field of "high mathematics", and they understand it as "mathematical analysis". It exists in some high school programs, but generally considered university discipline, rather then school. Again, it is actually possible to create problem inside mathematical analysis and solve it, creating material of grade which is enough for publication anywhere.
Also you can always publish it in journals for PhD/high school students, which have lower bounds for inclusion of articles.
Not explaining what exactly in your result did not fit into bounds for publication is nonsense. Such uncompetent staff which doesn't even bother to explain the subject of article should be fired because most probably their PhD degree was bought (remember how french physicists had bought degrees in 90s and after great scandal they were both fired and their works disqualified).
answered yesterday
sanarissanaris
1486
4
Your comment about "high mathematics" and "mathematical analysis" show that you have no idea about what math research is about, so your advise is unlikely to be very helpful.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
Why on earth would "high mathematics" mean "mathematical analysis"? Why that specific subbranch of mathematics and not one of the other ones? I mean, "higher category theory" at least contains the word "high".
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
3
If you think "mathematical analysis" is all math beyond the elementary math, then that reinforces my point that you really have no idea what you are talking about in this context and that whatever advise you offer is not going to be very valuable.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
@TobiasKildetoft: For whatever it’s worth, German universities used to split their basic mathematics curriculum (usually for students of other sciences or engineering AFAIK) into lineare Algebra (linear algebra) and höhere Mathematik, with the latter literally meaning higher mathematics and practically being (infinitesimal) calculus. The modern name for these courses and the German word for calculus is Analysis. So, with a few translation errors (that should not happen to a professional mathematician nowadays), you indeed get high mathematics = mathematical analysis.
– Wrzlprmft♦
yesterday
6
@SidBrown From the rejection note you've already received, aiming for journals "with a great reputation" sounds like it's aiming much too high.
– David Richerby
yesterday
|
show 9 more comments
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "415"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sid Brown is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2facademia.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f126547%2fi-got-the-following-comment-from-a-reputed-math-journal-what-does-it-mean%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
My educated guess is that the reviewer is a native speaker of German and mistranslated some terms into English:
The German word Übung translates both to practice and to exercise.
In German universities, höhere Mathematik (literally: higher mathematics) was used as a label for mathematics courses for students of other scientific fields or engineering. At times, this only referred to the calculus courses (and not the linear-algebra courses). In particular, these courses usually focus on applying mathematical concepts and do not compare to courses for students of mathematics. (I wouldn’t be surprised if you can still find this label in use somewhere.)
If my guess is correct, the reviewers comment means something along the lines of:
This manuscript is just a (demonstrative) exercise in undergraduate mathematics and therefore not suitable for publication in a high-level journal.
So, your manuscript was rejected because it allegedly does not feature any new mathematics.
edited yesterday
Uwe
1,451613
answered yesterday
Wrzlprmft♦Wrzlprmft
34.2k9108185
7
I came to a similar conclusion without thinking about it being a translation issue: the problem is (already) a practice in some kind of mathematics, therefore it's not suitable as a paper for a high-level journal (which only publishes novel things).
– Mehrdad
yesterday
Incidentally the old name for calculus in Vietnamese is also "high-level math". During the Vietnam war we imported education from the USSR, so I wonder if this name also exists in Russian
– Ooker
yesterday
Also, the German word "betrachtet" translates to "considered" and "regarded". The usage of the first translation seems a bit strange here.
– rexkogitans
23 hours ago
3
This sentence would mean pretty much the same thing as your German intepretation if you translated it literally into Polish. It may be a bit of a leap, but I suppose the same is likely to be true for (most?) other central European languages.
– tomasz
18 hours ago
3
@Ooker It is the same in most of Central and Eastern Europe ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
– Vladimir F
14 hours ago
add a comment |
My educated guess is that the reviewer is a native speaker of German and mistranslated some terms into English:
The German word Übung translates both to practice and to exercise.
In German universities, höhere Mathematik (literally: higher mathematics) was used as a label for mathematics courses for students of other scientific fields or engineering. At times, this only referred to the calculus courses (and not the linear-algebra courses). In particular, these courses usually focus on applying mathematical concepts and do not compare to courses for students of mathematics. (I wouldn’t be surprised if you can still find this label in use somewhere.)
If my guess is correct, the reviewers comment means something along the lines of:
This manuscript is just a (demonstrative) exercise in undergraduate mathematics and therefore not suitable for publication in a high-level journal.
So, your manuscript was rejected because it allegedly does not feature any new mathematics.
edited yesterday
Uwe
1,451613
answered yesterday
Wrzlprmft♦Wrzlprmft
34.2k9108185
7
I came to a similar conclusion without thinking about it being a translation issue: the problem is (already) a practice in some kind of mathematics, therefore it's not suitable as a paper for a high-level journal (which only publishes novel things).
– Mehrdad
yesterday
Incidentally the old name for calculus in Vietnamese is also "high-level math". During the Vietnam war we imported education from the USSR, so I wonder if this name also exists in Russian
– Ooker
yesterday
Also, the German word "betrachtet" translates to "considered" and "regarded". The usage of the first translation seems a bit strange here.
– rexkogitans
23 hours ago
3
This sentence would mean pretty much the same thing as your German intepretation if you translated it literally into Polish. It may be a bit of a leap, but I suppose the same is likely to be true for (most?) other central European languages.
– tomasz
18 hours ago
3
@Ooker It is the same in most of Central and Eastern Europe ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
– Vladimir F
14 hours ago
add a comment |
My educated guess is that the reviewer is a native speaker of German and mistranslated some terms into English:
The German word Übung translates both to practice and to exercise.
In German universities, höhere Mathematik (literally: higher mathematics) was used as a label for mathematics courses for students of other scientific fields or engineering. At times, this only referred to the calculus courses (and not the linear-algebra courses). In particular, these courses usually focus on applying mathematical concepts and do not compare to courses for students of mathematics. (I wouldn’t be surprised if you can still find this label in use somewhere.)
If my guess is correct, the reviewers comment means something along the lines of:
This manuscript is just a (demonstrative) exercise in undergraduate mathematics and therefore not suitable for publication in a high-level journal.
So, your manuscript was rejected because it allegedly does not feature any new mathematics.
edited yesterday
Uwe
1,451613
answered yesterday
Wrzlprmft♦Wrzlprmft
34.2k9108185
My educated guess is that the reviewer is a native speaker of German and mistranslated some terms into English:
The German word Übung translates both to practice and to exercise.
In German universities, höhere Mathematik (literally: higher mathematics) was used as a label for mathematics courses for students of other scientific fields or engineering. At times, this only referred to the calculus courses (and not the linear-algebra courses). In particular, these courses usually focus on applying mathematical concepts and do not compare to courses for students of mathematics. (I wouldn’t be surprised if you can still find this label in use somewhere.)
If my guess is correct, the reviewers comment means something along the lines of:
This manuscript is just a (demonstrative) exercise in undergraduate mathematics and therefore not suitable for publication in a high-level journal.
So, your manuscript was rejected because it allegedly does not feature any new mathematics.
edited yesterday
Uwe
1,451613
answered yesterday
Wrzlprmft♦Wrzlprmft
34.2k9108185
edited yesterday
Uwe
1,451613
edited yesterday
Uwe
1,451613
edited yesterday
Uwe
1,451613
1,451613
answered yesterday
Wrzlprmft♦Wrzlprmft
34.2k9108185
answered yesterday
Wrzlprmft♦Wrzlprmft
34.2k9108185
answered yesterday
Wrzlprmft♦Wrzlprmft
34.2k9108185
34.2k9108185
7
I came to a similar conclusion without thinking about it being a translation issue: the problem is (already) a practice in some kind of mathematics, therefore it's not suitable as a paper for a high-level journal (which only publishes novel things).
– Mehrdad
yesterday
Incidentally the old name for calculus in Vietnamese is also "high-level math". During the Vietnam war we imported education from the USSR, so I wonder if this name also exists in Russian
– Ooker
yesterday
Also, the German word "betrachtet" translates to "considered" and "regarded". The usage of the first translation seems a bit strange here.
– rexkogitans
23 hours ago
3
This sentence would mean pretty much the same thing as your German intepretation if you translated it literally into Polish. It may be a bit of a leap, but I suppose the same is likely to be true for (most?) other central European languages.
– tomasz
18 hours ago
3
@Ooker It is the same in most of Central and Eastern Europe ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
– Vladimir F
14 hours ago
add a comment |
7
I came to a similar conclusion without thinking about it being a translation issue: the problem is (already) a practice in some kind of mathematics, therefore it's not suitable as a paper for a high-level journal (which only publishes novel things).
– Mehrdad
yesterday
Incidentally the old name for calculus in Vietnamese is also "high-level math". During the Vietnam war we imported education from the USSR, so I wonder if this name also exists in Russian
– Ooker
yesterday
Also, the German word "betrachtet" translates to "considered" and "regarded". The usage of the first translation seems a bit strange here.
– rexkogitans
23 hours ago
3
This sentence would mean pretty much the same thing as your German intepretation if you translated it literally into Polish. It may be a bit of a leap, but I suppose the same is likely to be true for (most?) other central European languages.
– tomasz
18 hours ago
3
@Ooker It is the same in most of Central and Eastern Europe ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
– Vladimir F
14 hours ago
7
7
I came to a similar conclusion without thinking about it being a translation issue: the problem is (already) a practice in some kind of mathematics, therefore it's not suitable as a paper for a high-level journal (which only publishes novel things).
– Mehrdad
yesterday
I came to a similar conclusion without thinking about it being a translation issue: the problem is (already) a practice in some kind of mathematics, therefore it's not suitable as a paper for a high-level journal (which only publishes novel things).
– Mehrdad
yesterday
Incidentally the old name for calculus in Vietnamese is also "high-level math". During the Vietnam war we imported education from the USSR, so I wonder if this name also exists in Russian
– Ooker
yesterday
Incidentally the old name for calculus in Vietnamese is also "high-level math". During the Vietnam war we imported education from the USSR, so I wonder if this name also exists in Russian
– Ooker
yesterday
Also, the German word "betrachtet" translates to "considered" and "regarded". The usage of the first translation seems a bit strange here.
– rexkogitans
23 hours ago
Also, the German word "betrachtet" translates to "considered" and "regarded". The usage of the first translation seems a bit strange here.
– rexkogitans
23 hours ago
3
3
This sentence would mean pretty much the same thing as your German intepretation if you translated it literally into Polish. It may be a bit of a leap, but I suppose the same is likely to be true for (most?) other central European languages.
– tomasz
18 hours ago
This sentence would mean pretty much the same thing as your German intepretation if you translated it literally into Polish. It may be a bit of a leap, but I suppose the same is likely to be true for (most?) other central European languages.
– tomasz
18 hours ago
3
3
@Ooker It is the same in most of Central and Eastern Europe ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
– Vladimir F
14 hours ago
@Ooker It is the same in most of Central and Eastern Europe ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
– Vladimir F
14 hours ago
add a comment |
Seems to me that there's a missing word, and the correct comment might be something more like:
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high school mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
In other words, your manuscript is too simple to be published in an academic journal.
edited yesterday
Buffy
53k15170262
answered 2 days ago
AllureAllure
32.7k1999151
5
Even then, it is a strange formulation, but I suppose the one writing it might not be great at English ("a practice" does not really make sense here on its own).
– Tobias Kildetoft
2 days ago
22
"a practice" instead of "an exercise" could be poor translation from a different language
– Thomas
2 days ago
22
Could be. Or maybe they mean something like "a (standard) practice in higher mathematics." Either way, a poorly written comment indicating that the paper's contribution is not sufficiently significant.
– cag51
yesterday
4
@cag51 This should be the answer.
– Captain Emacs
yesterday
4
Unfortunately it means that the manuscript is rejected. The only thing you can do is being disappointed that it took almost three months to receive an answer (that in addition might be poorly written).
– Alchimista
yesterday
|
show 2 more comments
Seems to me that there's a missing word, and the correct comment might be something more like:
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high school mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
In other words, your manuscript is too simple to be published in an academic journal.
edited yesterday
Buffy
53k15170262
answered 2 days ago
AllureAllure
32.7k1999151
5
Even then, it is a strange formulation, but I suppose the one writing it might not be great at English ("a practice" does not really make sense here on its own).
– Tobias Kildetoft
2 days ago
22
"a practice" instead of "an exercise" could be poor translation from a different language
– Thomas
2 days ago
22
Could be. Or maybe they mean something like "a (standard) practice in higher mathematics." Either way, a poorly written comment indicating that the paper's contribution is not sufficiently significant.
– cag51
yesterday
4
@cag51 This should be the answer.
– Captain Emacs
yesterday
4
Unfortunately it means that the manuscript is rejected. The only thing you can do is being disappointed that it took almost three months to receive an answer (that in addition might be poorly written).
– Alchimista
yesterday
|
show 2 more comments
Seems to me that there's a missing word, and the correct comment might be something more like:
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high school mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
In other words, your manuscript is too simple to be published in an academic journal.
edited yesterday
Buffy
53k15170262
answered 2 days ago
AllureAllure
32.7k1999151
Seems to me that there's a missing word, and the correct comment might be something more like:
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high school mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals.
In other words, your manuscript is too simple to be published in an academic journal.
edited yesterday
Buffy
53k15170262
answered 2 days ago
AllureAllure
32.7k1999151
edited yesterday
Buffy
53k15170262
edited yesterday
Buffy
53k15170262
edited yesterday
Buffy
53k15170262
53k15170262
answered 2 days ago
AllureAllure
32.7k1999151
answered 2 days ago
AllureAllure
32.7k1999151
answered 2 days ago
AllureAllure
32.7k1999151
32.7k1999151
5
Even then, it is a strange formulation, but I suppose the one writing it might not be great at English ("a practice" does not really make sense here on its own).
– Tobias Kildetoft
2 days ago
22
"a practice" instead of "an exercise" could be poor translation from a different language
– Thomas
2 days ago
22
Could be. Or maybe they mean something like "a (standard) practice in higher mathematics." Either way, a poorly written comment indicating that the paper's contribution is not sufficiently significant.
– cag51
yesterday
4
@cag51 This should be the answer.
– Captain Emacs
yesterday
4
Unfortunately it means that the manuscript is rejected. The only thing you can do is being disappointed that it took almost three months to receive an answer (that in addition might be poorly written).
– Alchimista
yesterday
|
show 2 more comments
5
Even then, it is a strange formulation, but I suppose the one writing it might not be great at English ("a practice" does not really make sense here on its own).
– Tobias Kildetoft
2 days ago
22
"a practice" instead of "an exercise" could be poor translation from a different language
– Thomas
2 days ago
22
Could be. Or maybe they mean something like "a (standard) practice in higher mathematics." Either way, a poorly written comment indicating that the paper's contribution is not sufficiently significant.
– cag51
yesterday
4
@cag51 This should be the answer.
– Captain Emacs
yesterday
4
Unfortunately it means that the manuscript is rejected. The only thing you can do is being disappointed that it took almost three months to receive an answer (that in addition might be poorly written).
– Alchimista
yesterday
5
5
Even then, it is a strange formulation, but I suppose the one writing it might not be great at English ("a practice" does not really make sense here on its own).
– Tobias Kildetoft
2 days ago
Even then, it is a strange formulation, but I suppose the one writing it might not be great at English ("a practice" does not really make sense here on its own).
– Tobias Kildetoft
2 days ago
22
22
"a practice" instead of "an exercise" could be poor translation from a different language
– Thomas
2 days ago
"a practice" instead of "an exercise" could be poor translation from a different language
– Thomas
2 days ago
22
22
Could be. Or maybe they mean something like "a (standard) practice in higher mathematics." Either way, a poorly written comment indicating that the paper's contribution is not sufficiently significant.
– cag51
yesterday
Could be. Or maybe they mean something like "a (standard) practice in higher mathematics." Either way, a poorly written comment indicating that the paper's contribution is not sufficiently significant.
– cag51
yesterday
4
4
@cag51 This should be the answer.
– Captain Emacs
yesterday
@cag51 This should be the answer.
– Captain Emacs
yesterday
4
4
Unfortunately it means that the manuscript is rejected. The only thing you can do is being disappointed that it took almost three months to receive an answer (that in addition might be poorly written).
– Alchimista
yesterday
Unfortunately it means that the manuscript is rejected. The only thing you can do is being disappointed that it took almost three months to receive an answer (that in addition might be poorly written).
– Alchimista
yesterday
|
show 2 more comments
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics...
In context, I would translate this into native English as:
In higher mathematics, the problem considered in this manuscript is just an exercise...
In other words, a routine calculation that has nothing new to say. Sorry.
answered yesterday
TonyKTonyK
20913
New contributor
TonyK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Sorry that is completely wrong!
– Sid Brown
yesterday
11
@SidBrown You're asking your question because you don't know what the review means. So I don't think you're in a position to declare that interpretations of it are "completely wrong!"
– David Richerby
10 hours ago
@SidBrown this seems completely right to me. What strikes you as wrong about it? At least give some info instead of just making a statement like that
– user94036
6 hours ago
@tonyk because the problem the manuscript deals cannot be considered just an exercise.
– Sid Brown
3 hours ago
add a comment |
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics...
In context, I would translate this into native English as:
In higher mathematics, the problem considered in this manuscript is just an exercise...
In other words, a routine calculation that has nothing new to say. Sorry.
answered yesterday
TonyKTonyK
20913
New contributor
TonyK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Sorry that is completely wrong!
– Sid Brown
yesterday
11
@SidBrown You're asking your question because you don't know what the review means. So I don't think you're in a position to declare that interpretations of it are "completely wrong!"
– David Richerby
10 hours ago
@SidBrown this seems completely right to me. What strikes you as wrong about it? At least give some info instead of just making a statement like that
– user94036
6 hours ago
@tonyk because the problem the manuscript deals cannot be considered just an exercise.
– Sid Brown
3 hours ago
add a comment |
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics...
In context, I would translate this into native English as:
In higher mathematics, the problem considered in this manuscript is just an exercise...
In other words, a routine calculation that has nothing new to say. Sorry.
answered yesterday
TonyKTonyK
20913
New contributor
TonyK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics...
In context, I would translate this into native English as:
In higher mathematics, the problem considered in this manuscript is just an exercise...
In other words, a routine calculation that has nothing new to say. Sorry.
answered yesterday
TonyKTonyK
20913
New contributor
TonyK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered yesterday
TonyKTonyK
20913
New contributor
TonyK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered yesterday
TonyKTonyK
20913
answered yesterday
TonyKTonyK
20913
20913
New contributor
TonyK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
TonyK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
TonyK is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Sorry that is completely wrong!
– Sid Brown
yesterday
11
@SidBrown You're asking your question because you don't know what the review means. So I don't think you're in a position to declare that interpretations of it are "completely wrong!"
– David Richerby
10 hours ago
@SidBrown this seems completely right to me. What strikes you as wrong about it? At least give some info instead of just making a statement like that
– user94036
6 hours ago
@tonyk because the problem the manuscript deals cannot be considered just an exercise.
– Sid Brown
3 hours ago
add a comment |
Sorry that is completely wrong!
– Sid Brown
yesterday
11
@SidBrown You're asking your question because you don't know what the review means. So I don't think you're in a position to declare that interpretations of it are "completely wrong!"
– David Richerby
10 hours ago
@SidBrown this seems completely right to me. What strikes you as wrong about it? At least give some info instead of just making a statement like that
– user94036
6 hours ago
@tonyk because the problem the manuscript deals cannot be considered just an exercise.
– Sid Brown
3 hours ago
Sorry that is completely wrong!
– Sid Brown
yesterday
Sorry that is completely wrong!
– Sid Brown
yesterday
11
11
@SidBrown You're asking your question because you don't know what the review means. So I don't think you're in a position to declare that interpretations of it are "completely wrong!"
– David Richerby
10 hours ago
@SidBrown You're asking your question because you don't know what the review means. So I don't think you're in a position to declare that interpretations of it are "completely wrong!"
– David Richerby
10 hours ago
@SidBrown this seems completely right to me. What strikes you as wrong about it? At least give some info instead of just making a statement like that
– user94036
6 hours ago
@SidBrown this seems completely right to me. What strikes you as wrong about it? At least give some info instead of just making a statement like that
– user94036
6 hours ago
@tonyk because the problem the manuscript deals cannot be considered just an exercise.
– Sid Brown
3 hours ago
@tonyk because the problem the manuscript deals cannot be considered just an exercise.
– Sid Brown
3 hours ago
add a comment |
This seems really odd. Is this the journal you submitted to?
Why
It took 75 days to receive a 1 sentence answer in English that makes no sense.
Even if it was high-school level, any peer reviewer would be expected to write more than a single bad English sentence.
There should be multiple reviews, and the editor should have sent a single sentence review back for more details without being asked.
What to do
If you are a grad student, take this to your advisor. There is a good chance they can contact the editor, and will have more clout than you (unless you are a professor).
If you are affiliated with a university, ask others in the field about it. If there are multiple people with single sentence reviews, push back on the conference as a group.
At least reach out to the editor. Say
I'm not sure what this sentence means. This is the only review I
received from my submission, and I'm not sure what it means or why my paper was rejected.
EDIT:
I thought it might be a desk rejection, but the message isn't boilerplate. I'm also not convinced the review meant "high-school".
Reasoning
If it was a high-school caliber entry, and the editor caught it, why not send a form letter or ignore it?
I have a difficult time seeing how "high-school math" can be anything but an insult. Why not just use words like stupid outright?
answered yesterday
sevensevenssevensevens
4,236924
8
About the multiple reviews and just one sentence: It could be a desk rejection coming from the editor, so it may not even been sent to the reviewers. And if the paper is really bad, there's no point in writing a detailed rejection.
– Massimo Ortolano
yesterday
13
If someone sends math at high school level to a journal, why should I as a reviewer write more than one line pointing that out? If it truly is an exercise in high school math, then there is nothing that will make it publishable, and it will be a waste of my time to try to point out things that might make it so. And it is very common for even very good math journals to have just a single reviewer.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
Just because the journal uses English language, doesn't mean that English is necessarily the first language of any given reviewer. I also doubt that "high school" is the correct implication. I'm strongly thinking "higher mathematics".
– Buffy
yesterday
2
@sevensevens yes that is the journal.
– Sid Brown
yesterday
2
what makes you think that it's the journal?
– Ooker
yesterday
|
show 5 more comments
This seems really odd. Is this the journal you submitted to?
Why
It took 75 days to receive a 1 sentence answer in English that makes no sense.
Even if it was high-school level, any peer reviewer would be expected to write more than a single bad English sentence.
There should be multiple reviews, and the editor should have sent a single sentence review back for more details without being asked.
What to do
If you are a grad student, take this to your advisor. There is a good chance they can contact the editor, and will have more clout than you (unless you are a professor).
If you are affiliated with a university, ask others in the field about it. If there are multiple people with single sentence reviews, push back on the conference as a group.
At least reach out to the editor. Say
I'm not sure what this sentence means. This is the only review I
received from my submission, and I'm not sure what it means or why my paper was rejected.
EDIT:
I thought it might be a desk rejection, but the message isn't boilerplate. I'm also not convinced the review meant "high-school".
Reasoning
If it was a high-school caliber entry, and the editor caught it, why not send a form letter or ignore it?
I have a difficult time seeing how "high-school math" can be anything but an insult. Why not just use words like stupid outright?
answered yesterday
sevensevenssevensevens
4,236924
8
About the multiple reviews and just one sentence: It could be a desk rejection coming from the editor, so it may not even been sent to the reviewers. And if the paper is really bad, there's no point in writing a detailed rejection.
– Massimo Ortolano
yesterday
13
If someone sends math at high school level to a journal, why should I as a reviewer write more than one line pointing that out? If it truly is an exercise in high school math, then there is nothing that will make it publishable, and it will be a waste of my time to try to point out things that might make it so. And it is very common for even very good math journals to have just a single reviewer.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
Just because the journal uses English language, doesn't mean that English is necessarily the first language of any given reviewer. I also doubt that "high school" is the correct implication. I'm strongly thinking "higher mathematics".
– Buffy
yesterday
2
@sevensevens yes that is the journal.
– Sid Brown
yesterday
2
what makes you think that it's the journal?
– Ooker
yesterday
|
show 5 more comments
This seems really odd. Is this the journal you submitted to?
Why
It took 75 days to receive a 1 sentence answer in English that makes no sense.
Even if it was high-school level, any peer reviewer would be expected to write more than a single bad English sentence.
There should be multiple reviews, and the editor should have sent a single sentence review back for more details without being asked.
What to do
If you are a grad student, take this to your advisor. There is a good chance they can contact the editor, and will have more clout than you (unless you are a professor).
If you are affiliated with a university, ask others in the field about it. If there are multiple people with single sentence reviews, push back on the conference as a group.
At least reach out to the editor. Say
I'm not sure what this sentence means. This is the only review I
received from my submission, and I'm not sure what it means or why my paper was rejected.
EDIT:
I thought it might be a desk rejection, but the message isn't boilerplate. I'm also not convinced the review meant "high-school".
Reasoning
If it was a high-school caliber entry, and the editor caught it, why not send a form letter or ignore it?
I have a difficult time seeing how "high-school math" can be anything but an insult. Why not just use words like stupid outright?
answered yesterday
sevensevenssevensevens
4,236924
This seems really odd. Is this the journal you submitted to?
Why
It took 75 days to receive a 1 sentence answer in English that makes no sense.
Even if it was high-school level, any peer reviewer would be expected to write more than a single bad English sentence.
There should be multiple reviews, and the editor should have sent a single sentence review back for more details without being asked.
What to do
If you are a grad student, take this to your advisor. There is a good chance they can contact the editor, and will have more clout than you (unless you are a professor).
If you are affiliated with a university, ask others in the field about it. If there are multiple people with single sentence reviews, push back on the conference as a group.
At least reach out to the editor. Say
I'm not sure what this sentence means. This is the only review I
received from my submission, and I'm not sure what it means or why my paper was rejected.
EDIT:
I thought it might be a desk rejection, but the message isn't boilerplate. I'm also not convinced the review meant "high-school".
Reasoning
If it was a high-school caliber entry, and the editor caught it, why not send a form letter or ignore it?
I have a difficult time seeing how "high-school math" can be anything but an insult. Why not just use words like stupid outright?
answered yesterday
sevensevenssevensevens
4,236924
edited yesterday
answered yesterday
sevensevenssevensevens
4,236924
answered yesterday
sevensevenssevensevens
4,236924
answered yesterday
sevensevenssevensevens
4,236924
4,236924
8
About the multiple reviews and just one sentence: It could be a desk rejection coming from the editor, so it may not even been sent to the reviewers. And if the paper is really bad, there's no point in writing a detailed rejection.
– Massimo Ortolano
yesterday
13
If someone sends math at high school level to a journal, why should I as a reviewer write more than one line pointing that out? If it truly is an exercise in high school math, then there is nothing that will make it publishable, and it will be a waste of my time to try to point out things that might make it so. And it is very common for even very good math journals to have just a single reviewer.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
Just because the journal uses English language, doesn't mean that English is necessarily the first language of any given reviewer. I also doubt that "high school" is the correct implication. I'm strongly thinking "higher mathematics".
– Buffy
yesterday
2
@sevensevens yes that is the journal.
– Sid Brown
yesterday
2
what makes you think that it's the journal?
– Ooker
yesterday
|
show 5 more comments
8
About the multiple reviews and just one sentence: It could be a desk rejection coming from the editor, so it may not even been sent to the reviewers. And if the paper is really bad, there's no point in writing a detailed rejection.
– Massimo Ortolano
yesterday
13
If someone sends math at high school level to a journal, why should I as a reviewer write more than one line pointing that out? If it truly is an exercise in high school math, then there is nothing that will make it publishable, and it will be a waste of my time to try to point out things that might make it so. And it is very common for even very good math journals to have just a single reviewer.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
Just because the journal uses English language, doesn't mean that English is necessarily the first language of any given reviewer. I also doubt that "high school" is the correct implication. I'm strongly thinking "higher mathematics".
– Buffy
yesterday
2
@sevensevens yes that is the journal.
– Sid Brown
yesterday
2
what makes you think that it's the journal?
– Ooker
yesterday
8
8
About the multiple reviews and just one sentence: It could be a desk rejection coming from the editor, so it may not even been sent to the reviewers. And if the paper is really bad, there's no point in writing a detailed rejection.
– Massimo Ortolano
yesterday
About the multiple reviews and just one sentence: It could be a desk rejection coming from the editor, so it may not even been sent to the reviewers. And if the paper is really bad, there's no point in writing a detailed rejection.
– Massimo Ortolano
yesterday
13
13
If someone sends math at high school level to a journal, why should I as a reviewer write more than one line pointing that out? If it truly is an exercise in high school math, then there is nothing that will make it publishable, and it will be a waste of my time to try to point out things that might make it so. And it is very common for even very good math journals to have just a single reviewer.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
If someone sends math at high school level to a journal, why should I as a reviewer write more than one line pointing that out? If it truly is an exercise in high school math, then there is nothing that will make it publishable, and it will be a waste of my time to try to point out things that might make it so. And it is very common for even very good math journals to have just a single reviewer.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
4
Just because the journal uses English language, doesn't mean that English is necessarily the first language of any given reviewer. I also doubt that "high school" is the correct implication. I'm strongly thinking "higher mathematics".
– Buffy
yesterday
Just because the journal uses English language, doesn't mean that English is necessarily the first language of any given reviewer. I also doubt that "high school" is the correct implication. I'm strongly thinking "higher mathematics".
– Buffy
yesterday
2
2
@sevensevens yes that is the journal.
– Sid Brown
yesterday
@sevensevens yes that is the journal.
– Sid Brown
yesterday
2
2
what makes you think that it's the journal?
– Ooker
yesterday
what makes you think that it's the journal?
– Ooker
yesterday
|
show 5 more comments
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals
Probably he means "high school". But, Gauss found many solutions in his high school years... Nobody exactly defined where "high school" ends. Because in my high school, I modelled Frank-Hertz experiment. With complicated enough approach this could become Plasma Physics article, enough for publication in any scientific grade journal.
Another probability is that they think subject lies in field of "high mathematics", and they understand it as "mathematical analysis". It exists in some high school programs, but generally considered university discipline, rather then school. Again, it is actually possible to create problem inside mathematical analysis and solve it, creating material of grade which is enough for publication anywhere.
Also you can always publish it in journals for PhD/high school students, which have lower bounds for inclusion of articles.
Not explaining what exactly in your result did not fit into bounds for publication is nonsense. Such uncompetent staff which doesn't even bother to explain the subject of article should be fired because most probably their PhD degree was bought (remember how french physicists had bought degrees in 90s and after great scandal they were both fired and their works disqualified).
answered yesterday
sanarissanaris
1486
4
Your comment about "high mathematics" and "mathematical analysis" show that you have no idea about what math research is about, so your advise is unlikely to be very helpful.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
Why on earth would "high mathematics" mean "mathematical analysis"? Why that specific subbranch of mathematics and not one of the other ones? I mean, "higher category theory" at least contains the word "high".
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
3
If you think "mathematical analysis" is all math beyond the elementary math, then that reinforces my point that you really have no idea what you are talking about in this context and that whatever advise you offer is not going to be very valuable.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
@TobiasKildetoft: For whatever it’s worth, German universities used to split their basic mathematics curriculum (usually for students of other sciences or engineering AFAIK) into lineare Algebra (linear algebra) and höhere Mathematik, with the latter literally meaning higher mathematics and practically being (infinitesimal) calculus. The modern name for these courses and the German word for calculus is Analysis. So, with a few translation errors (that should not happen to a professional mathematician nowadays), you indeed get high mathematics = mathematical analysis.
– Wrzlprmft♦
yesterday
6
@SidBrown From the rejection note you've already received, aiming for journals "with a great reputation" sounds like it's aiming much too high.
– David Richerby
yesterday
|
show 9 more comments
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals
Probably he means "high school". But, Gauss found many solutions in his high school years... Nobody exactly defined where "high school" ends. Because in my high school, I modelled Frank-Hertz experiment. With complicated enough approach this could become Plasma Physics article, enough for publication in any scientific grade journal.
Another probability is that they think subject lies in field of "high mathematics", and they understand it as "mathematical analysis". It exists in some high school programs, but generally considered university discipline, rather then school. Again, it is actually possible to create problem inside mathematical analysis and solve it, creating material of grade which is enough for publication anywhere.
Also you can always publish it in journals for PhD/high school students, which have lower bounds for inclusion of articles.
Not explaining what exactly in your result did not fit into bounds for publication is nonsense. Such uncompetent staff which doesn't even bother to explain the subject of article should be fired because most probably their PhD degree was bought (remember how french physicists had bought degrees in 90s and after great scandal they were both fired and their works disqualified).
answered yesterday
sanarissanaris
1486
4
Your comment about "high mathematics" and "mathematical analysis" show that you have no idea about what math research is about, so your advise is unlikely to be very helpful.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
Why on earth would "high mathematics" mean "mathematical analysis"? Why that specific subbranch of mathematics and not one of the other ones? I mean, "higher category theory" at least contains the word "high".
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
3
If you think "mathematical analysis" is all math beyond the elementary math, then that reinforces my point that you really have no idea what you are talking about in this context and that whatever advise you offer is not going to be very valuable.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
@TobiasKildetoft: For whatever it’s worth, German universities used to split their basic mathematics curriculum (usually for students of other sciences or engineering AFAIK) into lineare Algebra (linear algebra) and höhere Mathematik, with the latter literally meaning higher mathematics and practically being (infinitesimal) calculus. The modern name for these courses and the German word for calculus is Analysis. So, with a few translation errors (that should not happen to a professional mathematician nowadays), you indeed get high mathematics = mathematical analysis.
– Wrzlprmft♦
yesterday
6
@SidBrown From the rejection note you've already received, aiming for journals "with a great reputation" sounds like it's aiming much too high.
– David Richerby
yesterday
|
show 9 more comments
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals
Probably he means "high school". But, Gauss found many solutions in his high school years... Nobody exactly defined where "high school" ends. Because in my high school, I modelled Frank-Hertz experiment. With complicated enough approach this could become Plasma Physics article, enough for publication in any scientific grade journal.
Another probability is that they think subject lies in field of "high mathematics", and they understand it as "mathematical analysis". It exists in some high school programs, but generally considered university discipline, rather then school. Again, it is actually possible to create problem inside mathematical analysis and solve it, creating material of grade which is enough for publication anywhere.
Also you can always publish it in journals for PhD/high school students, which have lower bounds for inclusion of articles.
Not explaining what exactly in your result did not fit into bounds for publication is nonsense. Such uncompetent staff which doesn't even bother to explain the subject of article should be fired because most probably their PhD degree was bought (remember how french physicists had bought degrees in 90s and after great scandal they were both fired and their works disqualified).
answered yesterday
sanarissanaris
1486
The considered problem in this manuscript is a practice in high mathematics and can not be a paper for publication in high-level journals
Probably he means "high school". But, Gauss found many solutions in his high school years... Nobody exactly defined where "high school" ends. Because in my high school, I modelled Frank-Hertz experiment. With complicated enough approach this could become Plasma Physics article, enough for publication in any scientific grade journal.
Another probability is that they think subject lies in field of "high mathematics", and they understand it as "mathematical analysis". It exists in some high school programs, but generally considered university discipline, rather then school. Again, it is actually possible to create problem inside mathematical analysis and solve it, creating material of grade which is enough for publication anywhere.
Also you can always publish it in journals for PhD/high school students, which have lower bounds for inclusion of articles.
Not explaining what exactly in your result did not fit into bounds for publication is nonsense. Such uncompetent staff which doesn't even bother to explain the subject of article should be fired because most probably their PhD degree was bought (remember how french physicists had bought degrees in 90s and after great scandal they were both fired and their works disqualified).
answered yesterday
sanarissanaris
1486
edited yesterday
answered yesterday
sanarissanaris
1486
answered yesterday
sanarissanaris
1486
answered yesterday
sanarissanaris
1486
1486
4
Your comment about "high mathematics" and "mathematical analysis" show that you have no idea about what math research is about, so your advise is unlikely to be very helpful.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
Why on earth would "high mathematics" mean "mathematical analysis"? Why that specific subbranch of mathematics and not one of the other ones? I mean, "higher category theory" at least contains the word "high".
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
3
If you think "mathematical analysis" is all math beyond the elementary math, then that reinforces my point that you really have no idea what you are talking about in this context and that whatever advise you offer is not going to be very valuable.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
@TobiasKildetoft: For whatever it’s worth, German universities used to split their basic mathematics curriculum (usually for students of other sciences or engineering AFAIK) into lineare Algebra (linear algebra) and höhere Mathematik, with the latter literally meaning higher mathematics and practically being (infinitesimal) calculus. The modern name for these courses and the German word for calculus is Analysis. So, with a few translation errors (that should not happen to a professional mathematician nowadays), you indeed get high mathematics = mathematical analysis.
– Wrzlprmft♦
yesterday
6
@SidBrown From the rejection note you've already received, aiming for journals "with a great reputation" sounds like it's aiming much too high.
– David Richerby
yesterday
|
show 9 more comments
4
Your comment about "high mathematics" and "mathematical analysis" show that you have no idea about what math research is about, so your advise is unlikely to be very helpful.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
Why on earth would "high mathematics" mean "mathematical analysis"? Why that specific subbranch of mathematics and not one of the other ones? I mean, "higher category theory" at least contains the word "high".
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
3
If you think "mathematical analysis" is all math beyond the elementary math, then that reinforces my point that you really have no idea what you are talking about in this context and that whatever advise you offer is not going to be very valuable.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
@TobiasKildetoft: For whatever it’s worth, German universities used to split their basic mathematics curriculum (usually for students of other sciences or engineering AFAIK) into lineare Algebra (linear algebra) and höhere Mathematik, with the latter literally meaning higher mathematics and practically being (infinitesimal) calculus. The modern name for these courses and the German word for calculus is Analysis. So, with a few translation errors (that should not happen to a professional mathematician nowadays), you indeed get high mathematics = mathematical analysis.
– Wrzlprmft♦
yesterday
6
@SidBrown From the rejection note you've already received, aiming for journals "with a great reputation" sounds like it's aiming much too high.
– David Richerby
yesterday
4
4
Your comment about "high mathematics" and "mathematical analysis" show that you have no idea about what math research is about, so your advise is unlikely to be very helpful.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
Your comment about "high mathematics" and "mathematical analysis" show that you have no idea about what math research is about, so your advise is unlikely to be very helpful.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
10
Why on earth would "high mathematics" mean "mathematical analysis"? Why that specific subbranch of mathematics and not one of the other ones? I mean, "higher category theory" at least contains the word "high".
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
Why on earth would "high mathematics" mean "mathematical analysis"? Why that specific subbranch of mathematics and not one of the other ones? I mean, "higher category theory" at least contains the word "high".
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
3
3
If you think "mathematical analysis" is all math beyond the elementary math, then that reinforces my point that you really have no idea what you are talking about in this context and that whatever advise you offer is not going to be very valuable.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
If you think "mathematical analysis" is all math beyond the elementary math, then that reinforces my point that you really have no idea what you are talking about in this context and that whatever advise you offer is not going to be very valuable.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
10
10
@TobiasKildetoft: For whatever it’s worth, German universities used to split their basic mathematics curriculum (usually for students of other sciences or engineering AFAIK) into lineare Algebra (linear algebra) and höhere Mathematik, with the latter literally meaning higher mathematics and practically being (infinitesimal) calculus. The modern name for these courses and the German word for calculus is Analysis. So, with a few translation errors (that should not happen to a professional mathematician nowadays), you indeed get high mathematics = mathematical analysis.
– Wrzlprmft♦
yesterday
@TobiasKildetoft: For whatever it’s worth, German universities used to split their basic mathematics curriculum (usually for students of other sciences or engineering AFAIK) into lineare Algebra (linear algebra) and höhere Mathematik, with the latter literally meaning higher mathematics and practically being (infinitesimal) calculus. The modern name for these courses and the German word for calculus is Analysis. So, with a few translation errors (that should not happen to a professional mathematician nowadays), you indeed get high mathematics = mathematical analysis.
– Wrzlprmft♦
yesterday
6
6
@SidBrown From the rejection note you've already received, aiming for journals "with a great reputation" sounds like it's aiming much too high.
– David Richerby
yesterday
@SidBrown From the rejection note you've already received, aiming for journals "with a great reputation" sounds like it's aiming much too high.
– David Richerby
yesterday
|
show 9 more comments
Sid Brown is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sid Brown is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sid Brown is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sid Brown is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to Academia Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2facademia.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f126547%2fi-got-the-following-comment-from-a-reputed-math-journal-what-does-it-mean%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
16
I would considered politely asking for a clarification. It is quite a cryptic message you've got there.
– Gabriel
yesterday
4
I would politely ask for a copy of the reviews sent from the reviewers to the editor. Normally, one would get a copy of those. The otherwise fluent English used in the letter suggests to me that the comment is not written by the editor but one of the reviewers. Please note that you work is not being classified as bad or wrong. Rightly or wrongly it is judged to be within the grasp of too many. While rejection is always unpleasant, you should not ignore this distinction. By the way, a 75 day wait is very short. Many manuscript take much longer to process.
– Carl Christian
yesterday
33
I would suggest against asking for a clarification. This seems like the whole text of the review. The English is lacking, but the outcome is clear: your paper is (allegedly) way too simple for this journal. Right or wrong, that's their decision. You have little to gain by arguing. After such a comment, there isn't much that you can write that would make the editor reconsider. If they had doubts about the review, they would already have invited another reviewer. Move on, and submit it somewhere else.
– Federico Poloni
yesterday
4
No, a paper need not be hard to grasp to be publishable. But it needs to deal with a problem of interest to the mathematical community, and whatever the reviewer meant precisely, it is clear that they do not believe the problem to be in this category.
– Tobias Kildetoft
yesterday
4
Unfortunately, sometimes reviewers don't do a good job reviewing. Worse, sometimes a problem can be very tough and then seem trivial once one has seen the solution. My advice is to send the paper to another journal, probably a slightly weaker one than you saw previously, and make sure that the paper has a detailed section illustrating what prior work has been done on the problem and why people care. that should do a better job getting a reviewer to realize the paper is interesting and non-trivial.
– JoshuaZ
yesterday