

Ask HN: Publish in peer-review journal without affiliation? - joesababa

I'm a retired physicist. I used to work in the industry. I have now time for theoretical research and have something to publish. Is it possible to publish in peer-review journal without affiliation?
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hugh3
Oh, come now. If you're a retired physicist surely you should know all about
how to publish?

Now, it's an unfortunate fact that 95% of all physics papers submitted by
unaffiliated researchers is garden-variety crackpottery. Giving you the
benefit of doubt and for now assuming that you're _not_ a crackpot, though,
there's no problem with just submitting your paper to the appropriate journal
and keeping the "affiliation" field blank.

Oh, and remember that the editors will be alert for any signs that you're a
crackpot, so write your abstract and cover letter in a way that emphasises the
genuine and original contributions which your paper makes and doesn't
exaggerate its importance.

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lisper
This post really sets off my bogometer. Anyone who is really a retired
physicist would not need to ask this question, much less ask it from a newly
created account on HN. That this post is getting so many upvotes is worrisome.

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_delirium
I think the answer's yes, but it can sometimes be tricky. You might try
submitting to a relevant conference first, before going for a journal. It
builds credibility for your ideas, and may get you good feedback on how to
discuss your work in a way that authenticates with other researchers in the
field (uses the right terminology in the right way, positions itself relative
to existing work and appropriately cites that work, etc.). The biggest hurdle
is usually finding which sub-community of researchers is interested in the
kinds of problems you're studying, and then making sure your paper's written
in a way such that they clearly know you're talking to them, in a way that
resonates with them. You might also meet relevant collaborators at
conferences. The main downside is that it costs some money to register for /
travel to them.

When choosing a journal, if you're worried about it, you might want to look
for one that explicitly says it uses double-blind review.

Disclaimer: I'm a researcher, but my area isn't physics, so ymmv.

~~~
hugh3
I'm not aware of any journals in physics that do double-blind review.

However your comment did remind me: the American Physical Society has its two
big meetings every March and April. If you are a member then they _have_ to
let you present at it. There's always a few "unaffiliated researchers" giving
posters. (And yes, they're usually crackpots.)

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vibhavs
Good question - sorry, I don't have an answer.

A more descriptive title, such as "Ask HN: Publication without affiliation,"
would help a lot.

~~~
scottjackson
Agreed.

I came here thinking the title was a _Spies Like Us_ reference.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lge2_H_8IQ>

Doctor.

------
wheels
I've been published (in physics) while outside of academia. It was with a
research team I'd previously worked with while in college, which says to me
that it probably helps if you can find some co-authors that are still
publishing, if for no other reason than to show you the ropes of the process.

------
tomcam
<http://arxiv.org/>

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grinich
Why peer-reviewed specifically?

Every professor I've had who is a theoretical physicist has posted their
papers at <http://arxiv.org/>. It's not peer-reviewed but as far as I know
pretty much everybody reads it.

~~~
hugh3
The impact of a non-peer-reviewed paper which only appears on arxiv is
generally pretty low. A bunch of people might read it on the day that it comes
out, but it won't show up in all the databases in years to come, and might
very easily be forgotten. If you've done real and credible work then it's much
better to get it published in a proper journal.

(On the other hand if you've done work that wouldn't pass peer review then
please don't clog up the arXiv with it)

~~~
sireat
Here is a notable exception of a non-peer-reviewed paper which did have "some"
impact: <http://arxiv.org/abs/math.DG/0211159>

As a place to stake one's claim(sure beats making anagrams as in 17th century)
and disseminate knowledge arxiv seems like a good place to be.

------
avar
Astronomy Cast did a good bit on this; "Ep. 147: How to Be Taken Seriously By
Scientists": [http://www.astronomycast.com/astronomy/ep-147-how-to-be-
take...](http://www.astronomycast.com/astronomy/ep-147-how-to-be-taken-
seriously-by-scientists/)

------
rguzman
I'm (temporarily) leaving theoretical physics, too. I'd like to continue on,
but without the affiliation. Can I pick your brain about what's it like doing
research outside of academia? rodguze@gmail.com.

~~~
hugh3
I would think that the main problem would be lack of access to libraries and
hence journals.

Still, I would assume you should have friends and colleagues still within
academia who could probably sort you out with library access in one way or
another.

~~~
helwr
academic libraries usually allow access to general public for <$100/month

~~~
_delirium
Some public university libraries can even be free, e.g. the University of
California system allows free in-library use of materials and computers to
visitors (you just walk in, and if you want to use electronic resources, login
as guest).

~~~
hugh3
Yes and no. At Berkeley, frinstance, you won't be able to get into the main
part of the main library without a university ID card of one form or another.
(And the other parts of the main library often have a few homeless people
sleeping in armchairs.) Still, you can always get into the Physics library and
that'll have all the journals you need.

If you're a genuine citizen scientist (as opposed to a crackpot) there are
always ways around it though. Talk to the librarians, they might be able to
hook you up with a card in one way or another.

~~~
_delirium
Interesting. UC Santa Cruz has no card checking at all, and pretty explicitly
allows the general public to visit. You can even use the WiFi without any sort
of account. It's a little out of the way, though.

Berkeley's website suggests that CA citizens can buy a card that even allows
borrowing privileges for $100/yr though, which is pretty cheap:
[http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/services/for_users/alumni_visito...](http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/services/for_users/alumni_visitors.html)

------
Serene
Yes, it is. Examples of how people sign their publications after retirement:
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20440016> also
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10700398>

or, if you do not want to mention retired or former, nor start your own
company, just provide your home address and indicate your preferred/non-
preferred reviewers

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Tichy
I wonder, if you are retired, why do you need journals? I could be completely
mistaken, but I thought the main point of journals is to rack up your
"publications count" so that you can keep your job.

Somehow I doubt that people will read your work just because it appears in a
journal. I'd expect you'd still have to go around and advertise it (ie present
on conferences, talk to people directly and so on)?

~~~
Retric
In many ways Journals are the beating heart of scientific research in that
they both spawn new ideas and keep people from redoing the same experiment
thousands of times.

Journals are used by researchers looking into similar problems. So if you say
find you can get a 1mm standing wave in water with sound waves and an odd
contraption people looking into that area 10 years from now will probably run
across your research and either improve it or look into some other area.

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mahmud
Yes. USENET is littered with journal and conference announcements and requests
for papers.

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jackdawjack
In which area of interest? As for journal access, i suggest using public
computers in a university library. Not tremendously practical but they're
always subscribed.

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itistoday
A bit disappointed. I thought this was a cleverly disguised post related to
Doctor Who...

