I've commented on a similar topic before about knowing who the reviewers were based on their comments and papers they recomend we cited. But as for the papers

I've commented on a similar topic before about knowing who the reviewers were based on their comments and papers they recomend we cited. But as for the papers being inscruitable, i think part of that is just that the domain has it's own language, and assumed knowledge. I don't have to explain why i'm using the gibbs equation to calcualte free energy, or why i'm using hess's law. I just do it. The only things that need explaination are the novel applications of techniques. When it comes to explaining those foundational concepts we need to pickup a text book or a popular science book. Speaking of, one of the things that makes me a little sad is how few popular science books there are around chemistry. There is loads about biology and physics, and even some around maths. Not a lot with chem.