2

I don't know how to approach the following problem: I've been out of the research world for several years now, and I'm currently working in a different field. I've completed a scientific work as an independent research that I would like to publish (in theoretical physics - foundations of quantum mechanics), but unfortunately, I don't currently have an academic affiliation. This certainly makes it more difficult to publish my article, as well as forcing me to pay for publication myself (although that wouldn't be the worst problem). As far as I know, it's difficult to publish a preprint even on arXiv without an academic affiliation.

Is there a form of voluntary academic collaboration (i.e., unpaid) that would allow me to have an affiliation and possibly interact with other researchers? I live in Italy and the people with whom I graduated and did my PhD currently work on topics quite different from the subject of the work I would like to publish. Moreover, I've completely lost contact with them.

Improve this question
2
  • How far afield was your prior work? Prior reputable publications would go a long way to establishing yourself as a legitimate scholar capable of producing research at publishable standards, and these can be quickly mentioned in an optional note to the editor field on most article submissions I'm familiar with. But if you're coming from, say, psychological studies, rather than some other particular subfield of theoretical physics, the transition will be harder to believe/establish and the more you need to go the way of Buffy's answer. Also be sure your employer doesn't have a claim here.
    – zibadawa timmy
    Commented Nov 16 at 3:38
  • 1
    Just to clarify, I have been away from the world of research for about 25 years (I currently work in the IT sector). In the past, I worked on nonlinear optics and particle physics (perturbative QCD). I am a co-author of several publications in these fields
    – PFerro
    Commented Nov 16 at 10:45

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5

This is a long-term solution, not a quick-fix, but if you can make contact with some university faculty with the purpose of collaboration, then a joint paper is probably a bit easier to get published. You don't actually need an affiliation, but it is a help it letting people know you aren't a crank. Contact the head of the physics department at an accessible university and ask about the possibility of meeting one or more faculty who might be interested.

Can you visit a nearby university and talk to people? Can you afford to attend a conference in your field and talk to people? If you convince them that you aren't a crank then an arXiv paper will be possible if they vouch for you.

Cold emails are unlikely to help much. They are too-easily ignored. But face to face visits can make a big difference.

Improve this answer
1
  • In theory, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to meet someone in person at the university, but I would need to at least contact him before (so as not to be perceived as a crank). The idea of attending a conference isn’t bad either, but it would have to be a conference that deals with a topic related to my work. Even in this case, there’s a risk of being seen as a weirdo...
    – PFerro
    Commented Nov 16 at 11:04

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .