JOURNAL OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING

Direction of bridge pier erosion, traditional topic innovation difficulties, and the submission process was quite challenging.

2022
6/4 Submission.
9/1 First revision. Three reviewers: 1# had no specific comments, focused on selecting the wrong article type; 2# Accept as is; 3# Suggested acceptance with dozens of specific comments.
11/15 Submitted after the first revision.

2023
1/10 Second revision. Added reviewer 4#, 1# suggested accepting as Technical Editor (TE); 3# suggested acceptance; 4# suggested accepting after proofreading with 12 specific comments, with 12#'s comments being the key focus of the second revision.
2/22 Submitted after the second revision.
3/13 Minor revision after the third review. Reviewer 4# suggested accepting as TE, but comments from 12# still needed clarification, and provided modification suggestions.
3/31 Submitted after the third revision.
4/20 Fourth revision for editor only. Reviewer 4# approved the previous modifications and suggested providing explanations in the discussion and conclusion sections for the corresponding issues.
4/25 Submitted after the fourth revision.
4/30 Accept (final).
5/31 Formatting review comments.
6/2 Submitted after formatting review.

Looking back now, if Technical Editor (TE) was selected instead of Technical Paper (TP) from the initial submission, it might have been smoother. So, I would like to remind everyone that choosing the correct article type is still very important.

The article focuses on river restoration projects. After discussions with collaborators in North America, it was decided to submit the article to the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (JHE), which specializes in engineering fields, rather than a journal with higher impact factors in areas such as geomorphology and water resources. The aim is to have the methods seen and practiced by the engineering community. Since the article is quite long, communication with the editors is necessary before submission. Based on the communication, both the editor-in-chief and the associate editor (who is also an associate editor of Water Resources Research) seem to be of the same caliber as Water Resources Research. It is unknown if JHE can match its influence, but the review process is estimated to be slower. The first review takes three months with a six-week revision time. After the revisions, the second review takes two months. It is mentioned that external reviews will not be sought after the revisions and the decision will solely rely on the editor's opinion. It took almost three months to receive an acceptance notification after the revisions. JHE is well-known in the water industry, but its speed is not commendable. Therefore, only shorter applied articles will be considered for submission to JHE.