My field of research is computational materials science/mechanics. My work is on the "numerical modeling of shot peening process". This is a typical publication in my field. My work is not very numerically intensive and is application based. I implemented a damage model in Finite element analysis.
Now, whenever I submit my work to computationally intensive journal like Computational Materials Science, it gets desk rejected citing "beyond the scope of the journal" as the reason for rejection.
However, when I submit to applied journals like Surface and Coatings Technology and Journal of Thermal Spray Technology, it gets accepted without much review. I just get few minor questions and it gets accepted.
Typical review comments involve:
- generic questions about the modeling technique used (mesh size, boundary conditions, constitutive equations used), which are more of clarifications rather than any deep questions.
- Comment about adding a figure or a simple explanation for a statement in the paper.
- Question about the future work and implications on real life application.
- Rest are about typos in the manuscript.
Is the low level of review questions a reflection on the quality of the journal? Am I submitting my papers to wrong journals?
Papers similar to my work are published in the journals mentioned.
Note: my question got deleted at Academia.SE so that is why I hoped it could be welcomed here.