Q: If the editor suggests that I submit to another journal, does it mean the other journal will surely publish the paper?
Here is the editor’s response to my submission: “We regretfully inform that your paper did not attract the reviewers of ABC (this) journal. The editorial board suggests that your paper would be suitable for XYZ (another) journal. If you are willing to consider this journal, please submit your paper online to XYZ journal so that it can be processed expeditiously.”
The editor and/or editorial board have most likely made this decision after evaluating the focus of your paper against the focus of the first [ABC] journal. It seems they believe your paper may not match the scope of what that journal publishes, but instead have a better match with what the other journal [XYZ] publishes. Also, the other journal is most likely a family (related) journal of the publishing group. It is nice on their part to have informed you of this. However, this response does not mean that your paper will definitely get published in the other journal, only that it may have a better chance of getting published there. Once you submit to the other journal, the manuscript will follow the typical process of being evaluated and going through a peer review. On your part, what you can do is to go through the other journal's site before submitting there. Based on the information and guidelines provided there, you can make any necessary modifications to your manuscript to increase the likelihood of getting accepted. All the best!
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This content belongs to the Journal Selection Stage