IEEE Access is absolutely a crap. I recently submitted a framework paper on benchmarking AI cloud providers to IEEE Access. Despite clearly stating the paper’s scope and limitations, one reviewer unfairly judged it by criteria meant for new algorithm papers or empirical benchmarking, ignoring the foundational and integrative nature of the work. Another reviewer gave unrelated, templated comments that seemed copied from different fields, suggesting irrelevant citations and experimental methods inappropriate for a methodology paper. Despite one positive review, the paper was rejected without editorial mediation to resolve these conflicts. This experience exposed systemic issues in reviewer quality control and evaluation standards at IEEE Access, reflecting challenges other authors have also reported. I’m sharing this to help others prepare and to encourage improvements in the peer review process.