I am new to stack exchange so please forgive me if my question is against the guidelines. I am 16 yrs old, and am interested in rockets, jets and anything that flies really. Me and my friend wanted to study about the propulsion technologies used in our summer break. Basically just reading about the things and writing a "paper" about what we read. Although we are just doing it for fun, would this paper have any prospect of being published? (as it's not anything new it's just already known knowledge compiled for beginners) It's about fuel types, types of engines etc. Thank you :)
1 Answer
There are two (at least) interpretations of the word research.
Many people consider reading and studying a topic, using what is already known, to be (personal) research. This seems to be what you have done, along with writing up what you have learned.
However, with only minor exceptions, true research is an attempt to extend what is known to humanity and offer hypotheses about the unknown along with evidence that supports those hypotheses. This "exploration of the truly unknown" is what results in publishable research. So, in that sense, no, your work isn't publishable in a research journal.
However, there are a few venues, often supported by professional societies that do publish student work and, perhaps, even summative review of the known. You might see if some major society in physics or engineering (more likely) has such a publishing venue.
Not being publishable in a major research journal doesn't make your work any less valuable for your own development, of course.
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thank you for taking the time, ill keep it in mind while writing the paper :) Feb 23 at 3:01