It may be the case that your paper is the first to use this method for very specific area/field/subject/topic. If so, it may be unclear to the reader that it is the first in that sense.

You may try to argument that if there is a rebut option, if not, try to make it clearer on the text for the final version if it gets accepted.

It may be the case that your paper is the first to use this method for a very specific area/field/subject/topic. If so, it may be unclear to the reader that it is the first in that sense.

You may try to argue that, if there is a rebut option; if not, try to make it clearer on the text for the final version if it gets accepted.