I lost hope on my paper it keeps getting rejected

I’ve been working on this research project for two years. A year in, I published a review paper with no issues, it got accepted right away, no rejections at all. But now that I’m trying to publish the actual research I did, it keeps getting rejected by the editors. Most of the time the editors say it’s “out of scope” or just reject it without any real feedback. It never even make it to peer review.

What’s worse is that my supervisors now think the work isn’t significant enough. But this was my PhD proposal, something they suggested and helped shape over time. I’ve done everything they asked, worked hard,and met regularly. Still, I’m stuck.

The last rejection came with really harsh comments (they said a simple look at the paper references would suggest it is clearly out of our scope eventhough I was citing papers from their journal). One of my supervisors told me to revise the manuscript but didn’t give any clear direction. I feel like I’m being told to fix something without knowing what’s wrong.

I found a journal that I think is a good fit as it publishes work similar to mine. But when I brought it up, my supervisors said it would just get rejected again and hurt the paper’s chances. They told me to fix it first, but again, gave no notes on how.

At this point, I feel like I’ve hit a wall. I want to keep trying, but I can’t move forward without their approval. And honestly, I’m starting to lose hope.