MINERALS ENGINEERING

To be honest, it's too slow. Let me give everyone a timeline report:
July - nothing significant
August - a whole month wasted
September - no approval from reviewers, pushing - polite response, intensifying search for reviewers
October - only one person agreed to review, pushing - okay, understood, we'll find more reviewers
November - one of the two reviewers who agreed to review is taking a long time to provide feedback, pushing - I can't do anything about it, we've already reached out to 8 people, I'll find a few more
December - received feedback from two reviewers (rrc, probably waiting for the third reviewer's opinion)
January - spent two months making revisions, three reviewers, one suggested it was novel but not within the scope, advised submitting to a journal in another field, one suggested minor revisions, one accepted it
March - returned, thinking since it has already been delayed for so long, will submit after finishing revisions in a week or so
April - accepted just now, the situation is extremely unfortunate

2022.11.7 with editor
It has been a long time with the editor. I have sent numerous reminders, but each time the editorial department would only reply with an automated response... It's frustrating. Finally, I sent an email to the chief editor and found out that they were on parental leave. Come on, at least let us know if you're taking a break.

2023.3.21 under review
The chief editor probably felt guilty for keeping me waiting for so long, so they only invited one reviewer.

4.10 revise (didn't specify major or minor revisions, but gave a month)

5.2 revisions required

5.29 revise (gave two weeks)

6.1 revisions required

6.6 the editor sent an invitation for review and it was accepted on the same day.

In conclusion, the previous complaints about the journal taking too long with the editor may be due to the fact that the papers reached the chief editor while they were on a several months-long leave... Things should go back to normal afterwards.