"Journal of Mathematical Chemistry" (sharan.ravi@springernature.com)
Thu, Aug 27, 7:21 AM (13 days ago)
to "me" (lorentz.jantschi@gmail.com)
date: Sep 1, 2026, 12:21 PM
Ref: Submission ID 5280dc66-ad3f-47a4-a5c1-c7b36489a427
Dear Dr Jaentschi,
Your manuscript "Topological Descriptors, H\"uckel Spectra, and Analytical $^{13}\text{C}$ NMR Profiles of Fjord-Edged Graphene Nanoribbons" has now been assessed. Quoting one of our respected reviewers: The research-level mathematical chemistry content of this manuscript, concerning details of actual molecular properties and chemical reactions, is not of the depth and direction appropriate for JOMC. Reject.
Regrettably, your manuscript has been rejected for publication in Journal of Mathematical Chemistry.
Thank you for the opportunity to review your work. I'm sorry that we cannot be more positive on this occasion and hope you will not be deterred from submitting future work to Journal of Mathematical Chemistry.
Kind regards,
Paul Mezey
Editor
Journal of Mathematical Chemistry
This document records concerns regarding the editorial assessment of the manuscript “Topological Descriptors, Hückel Spectra, and Analytical 13C NMR Profiles of Fjord-Edged Graphene Nanoribbons”, submitted to the Journal of Mathematical Chemistry (JOMC). The objective is not to contest the editorial right to reject manuscripts, which is undisputed, but to evaluate whether the stated justification is logically consistent with the manuscript's contents and with the declared scope of mathematical chemistry.
The submitted work investigated a family of graphene nanoribbons characterized by Fjord-type edges. The study combined several well-established mathematical chemistry approaches:
The manuscript therefore connected molecular graph theory, spectral graph theory, topological descriptors, mathematical characterization of nanostructures, and analytical structure-property relationships.
The rejection letter, signed by Editor Paul Mezey, included the following statement attributed to a reviewer:
“The research-level mathematical chemistry content of this manuscript, concerning details of actual molecular properties and chemical reactions, is not of the depth and direction appropriate for JOMC. Reject.”
A first concern arises from the characterization of the manuscript as being focused on “details of actual molecular properties and chemical reactions”.
The manuscript did not study chemical reactions. No reaction mechanisms, reaction pathways, kinetic models, thermodynamic reaction analyses, catalytic cycles, or reaction-energy calculations were presented.
Instead, the work dealt primarily with:
Consequently, the reviewer justification appears to describe a different category of research than the one actually contained in the manuscript.
The stated reason suggests insufficient mathematical chemistry depth. However, the manuscript's core results consisted of exact symbolic derivations for entire infinite classes of molecular graphs.
A significant fraction of the article was devoted to:
These topics belong directly to the traditional domain of mathematical chemistry, where molecular structures are represented as graphs and analyzed through mathematical invariants.
The reviewer appears simultaneously to:
Yet the mathematical treatment of molecular structures constitutes the principal bridge between these two areas. The manuscript's molecular-property discussion emerged from mathematical descriptors derived analytically from molecular graphs.
Thus, the work was neither purely chemical nor purely descriptive. Its central contribution was mathematical characterization of chemical structures.
The Journal of Mathematical Chemistry has historically published research involving:
The rejected manuscript was constructed explicitly within this framework. Its methodology, terminology, mathematical tools, and objectives corresponded directly to established themes of mathematical chemistry.