Rejected from International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer? Where to Submit Next

Use these as routing checks, not as automatic resubmission reasons.

This page was researched from the current ScienceDirect ICHMT journal page, ICHMT guide for authors, ScienceDirect insights page, existing Manusights IJHMT and adjacent thermal/energy pages, and current source checks for International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, Applied Thermal Engineering, Applied Energy, Energy, Energy Conversion and Management, Journal of Energy Storage, Renewable Energy, and Fuel.

The non-obvious layer is article-shape diagnosis. A rejected ICHMT manuscript may still be an ICHMT paper with repairable compactness, novelty, mechanism, validation, uncertainty, or framing problems. It may be an IJHMT paper because it needs full-length transfer-process evidence. It may be an IJHFF paper because fluid-dynamic mechanism owns the contribution. It may be Applied Thermal Engineering because device or system engineering is the real claim. It may be Applied Energy, Energy, or ECM because energy-system decision value, economics, conversion, or management owns the paper. It may be a storage, renewable, fuel, HVAC, refrigeration, electronics-cooling, porous-media, combustion, or CFD-methods paper.

Through our diagnostic review work, we see the same editorial triage pattern repeatedly: authors treat ICHMT rejection as a journal-tier problem when the cleaner diagnosis is usually article shape. In practice, the decision turns on whether the manuscript proves a compact communication, a full-length transfer-process advance, a fluid-dynamic mechanism, an applied thermal-engineering decision, or a broader energy-system consequence.

Do not treat every rejection as a reason to downgrade. Sometimes the paper is strong but has the wrong length, evidence hierarchy, or reader promise.

Use these labels to convert the rejection into a repair plan.

Communication-shape gap: the title, abstract, highlights, figures, and conclusion do not show why the result deserves a compact communication rather than a full-length IJHMT-style article.

Mechanism-depth gap: the paper reports heat transfer, mass transfer, or coupled transport behavior but does not explain the mechanism, regime shift, scaling reason, or physical interpretation.

Validation gap: the paper relies on CFD, simulation, AI/ML, experiments, or correlations without enough grid independence, benchmark comparison, uncertainty, repeatability, or sensitivity evidence.

Article-type gap: the manuscript behaves like a full paper, review, comment, or corrigendum while being packaged as a standard communication.

Audience-center gap: the manuscript is technically sound but belongs to IJHMT, IJHFF, Applied Thermal Engineering, Applied Energy, Energy, ECM, Journal of Energy Storage, Renewable Energy, Fuel, HVAC, refrigeration, electronics cooling, combustion, porous media, or a CFD-methods venue rather than ICHMT.

These labels prevent cosmetic retargeting. A communication-shape gap is not fixed by cutting words. A validation gap is not fixed by moving to a shorter venue. A mechanism gap is not fixed by more plots. An article-type gap is not fixed by a new cover letter.

The right next venue is the one where the paper's strongest evidence becomes easier to evaluate.

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer is cleaner when the rejected manuscript is still heat/mass-transfer centered but needs full-length evidence. Use this route when the work needs detailed methods, full uncertainty propagation, grid-independence evidence, benchmark tables, mechanism discussion, or a longer physical interpretation than ICHMT can comfortably carry.

Route toward IJHMT if:

• the paper has a real transfer-process advance but the communication is too compressed
• the methods and validation need more room to be credible
• the result is not just fast or compact, but field-building
• the ICHMT rejection exposed article shape rather than weak science

Do not move there if the paper is short because the evidence is thin. IJHMT will still ask for the missing mechanism, verification, and uncertainty.

International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow is cleaner when the rejected manuscript's strongest contribution is flow physics, turbulence, multiphase flow, microscale flow, flow instability, thermo-fluidics, or coupled flow/heat-transfer mechanism.

Physics of Fluids can be cleaner when the work is primarily fluid dynamics, with heat or mass transfer as one manifestation of the flow physics. Use the Physics of Fluids submission guide if the no-cover-letter policy, Letter format, and Peer X-Press workflow are relevant.

Route toward a fluid venue if:

• the main novelty is a flow structure, instability, turbulence model, or fluid-dynamic mechanism
• the benchmark table is built around fluid-flow literature rather than heat/mass-transfer communication literature
• the ICHMT rejection exposed that the paper is more flow-centered than heat/mass-transfer-centered

Do not move there if the real contribution is thermal device performance, energy-system decision value, storage operation, fuel conversion, or a pure heat-transfer correlation.

Applied Thermal Engineering is stronger when the manuscript answers an applied thermal-engineering question: device design, component performance, equipment behavior, thermal-management architecture, heat-recovery system, HVAC system, refrigeration process, electronics cooling implementation, or operating-condition consequence.

Applied Energy is stronger when the manuscript answers an applied energy-system decision: operation, optimization, economics, lifecycle analysis, deployment, net-zero planning, building energy, storage dispatch, or multi-energy-system design.

Energy is stronger when the manuscript is broad energy engineering, assessment, review, or evaluation where heat transfer is one component in a larger energy-system question.

Energy Conversion and Management is stronger when conversion, management, exergy, cost, optimization, or energy-system consequence is central and the heat/mass transfer process is one mechanism inside a broader system.

Do not use these routes to hide weak evidence. Applied and energy journals will still ask whether the mechanism, validation, benchmark, uncertainty, cost, and operating assumptions support the claim.

In our review of heat-and-mass-transfer manuscripts, the worst retargeting mistakes happen when authors treat ICHMT as merely "short IJHMT." The journal's communication identity makes the diagnosis more specific.

International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer communication-shape pattern: the manuscript has a real result but the abstract, highlights, first figure, and conclusion do not prove why the finding belongs in a rapid communication. If the methods, benchmark table, and uncertainty package need more room, the next venue may be IJHMT rather than another short-format journal.

International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer evidence-hole pattern: the result is communication-shaped, but numerical work lacks grid independence, experimental work lacks uncertainty propagation, or AI/ML work lacks benchmark and extrapolation discipline. That rejection reason travels. Moving to IJHMT, IJHFF, Applied Thermal Engineering, or Energy will not fix a missing methods section, result table, or supplementary validation package.

International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer mechanism-thin pattern: the paper reports a heat-transfer coefficient, mass-transfer rate, Nusselt number, Sherwood number, evaporation rate, boiling trend, condensation trend, or porous-media result but does not explain the physical mechanism. The curve, equation, or plotted trend is not enough unless the discussion explains why the transfer process behaves differently.

International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer wrong-audience pattern: the manuscript's center of gravity belongs elsewhere. Full-length transfer science points to IJHMT. Flow physics points to IJHFF or Physics of Fluids. Engineering implementation points to Applied Thermal Engineering. System economics and operation point to Applied Energy, Energy, or ECM. Storage, renewable thermal, combustion, HVAC, refrigeration, electronics cooling, and porous-media papers often need narrower reviewers.

This is why a useful post-rejection decision starts with the rejection reason, not with a journal list. The next venue should make the strongest evidence in the paper more central.

If you want a second read before spending another submission cycle, run a journal-fit and evidence-strength check. The useful question is not "which journal is easiest?" It is "which journal will evaluate the actual contribution?"

An Elsevier transfer offer can be useful, but transfer is not acceptance and it is not always the best strategic route. ICHMT rejection often creates a choice between a full-length transfer-process journal, a fluid-flow venue, an applied-thermal venue, and a specialist application venue.

Evaluate the offer with four questions:

Accept transfer if the destination is truly aligned and you can repair the manuscript before it is evaluated. Decline if a different journal family is cleaner.

Maybe, but treat resubmission as a high bar. Resubmit only if:

• the editor invited a revised submission or the rejection reason is narrow and repairable
• the manuscript now makes the compact communication claim explicit
• the title and highlights explain why the result deserves rapid dissemination
• numerical work now includes grid independence, verification, and sensitivity evidence
• experimental work now includes calibration, repeatability, uncertainty propagation, and readable error evidence
• the benchmark table compares against the right heat/mass-transfer literature
• the cover letter explains what changed since rejection

Do not resubmit if the editor clearly identified scope mismatch, if the paper's real contribution is full-length transfer science or applied device engineering, or if the missing evidence cannot be rebuilt.

• International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer submission guide
• Rejected from International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer? Where to submit next
• Physics of Fluids submission guide
• Rejected from Physics of Fluids? Where to submit next
• Applied Thermal Engineering submission guide
• Rejected from Applied Thermal Engineering? Where to submit next
• Applied Energy submission guide
• Energy submission guide
• Energy Conversion and Management submission guide
• Journal of Energy Storage submission guide
• Renewable Energy submission guide
• Fuel submission guide

This page does not claim to predict an editorial decision. It uses current public journal guidance, journal-page facts, and Manusights review patterns to help authors diagnose the rejection reason, repair evidence that will travel across journals, and choose a cleaner next route.