# Publishing a mathematical paper as a layman?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/publishing-a-mathematical-paper-as-a-layman/528628>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 12, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/publishing-a-mathematical-paper-as-a-layman/528628 "2010-02-12T00:28:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/publishing-a-mathematical-paper-as-a-layman/528628/21 "2010-02-12T17:55:27Z")

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> [@lazybratsche](#):
>
> Or do experiments! For a lot of game theory and economics experiments, the researchers just go and recruit the nearest bunch of broke-ass undergrads. The cost is dirt cheap compared to many other studies; something like $20 per subject per experiment (multiplied by a few dozen subjects), and whatever it costs to print up a bunch of fliers and post them around campus.
> 
> Notice that we’re all trying to tread a fine line between giving you a realistic idea of publishing, while still encouraging you to try. Ideally, science is democratic, and any idea with merit will be included. But that also means that your idea will be kicked around by some very smart and critical people, and may not survive the process. None of your reviewers will try to be nice to you – their job is to point out every possible flaw in your work. It’s intimidating, but don’t shy away from this process. It’s central to how science works, and how good ideas are sorted out from bad ideas.

I hesitated to say this, not wanting to encourage lots of people to bug professors, but finding the nearest one working in this area and getting in contact is a good idea. He or she would know if the idea is novel right away, and if it is, could set up an experiment. My daughter is working on behavioral economics in grad school, and the departments all are supposed to help the psych department by making students available for experiments. She has done a lot already, and has the infrastructure set up.

Just ideas can get published in workshops, or published if the inventor of them has a good track record. (I publish almost nothing but them these days.) It would be hard for a new person to do it.

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**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/publishing-a-mathematical-paper-as-a-layman/528628/22 "2010-02-12T18:42:36Z")

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You could try the [Open acess](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access_%28publishing%29) publishing route: instead of going through journals, you publish yourself through the next university that offers it on the internet.

Here’s the [Budapest](http://www.soros.org/openaccess/index.shtml)declaration.

You still have to meet the required style footnotes etc. that the others mentioned above.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/publishing-a-mathematical-paper-as-a-layman/528628/23 "2010-02-12T19:25:58Z")

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> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#):
>
> I’d get the paper written into a decent form then send it to a workshop for refereeing. The referees there will give you further hints on previous work, and where you need to improve. You’ll probably have to write it in LaTeX. Workshop websites will provide you with the necessary LaTeX style files that you need.

LaTeX? Really? All the IEEE journals and conferences I know of take PDF. Some people do write in LaTeX, but lot’s don’t, and our conference template is in Word.

The downside of presenting at a conference or workshop is that it costs money to register, and there are travel and hotel expenses. Someone not in the club might find it offputting. Also, lots of workshops don’t have proceedings, and the reviewing process is sometimes a bit spotty, since the goal is to get new ideas out there for discussion, not to have everything perfect.

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