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To many of you this might sound extremely ambitious, but I am already doing a lot of innovative things in my area of expertise. I think the results from this research could benefit the general public. It would be nice for me to be able to write my results in a formal paper and publish it. However I am not affiliated with any university and I know how much scrutiny there is in publishing.
So assuming I have a paper written what are my next steps to publish it?
Find a suitable journal and submit the paper.
;)
Jul 6, 2017 at 19:08
I agree with the existing "Find a suitable journal and submit the paper." answer, but a bit more detail may be helpful.
An experienced professor as academic advisor can be especially helpful to a new researcher in two areas, knowing what is innovative and selecting a venue.
To know that a particular idea is new requires broad knowledge of related research. Similarly, selecting an appropriate venue requires experience with the various journals and conferences. Objectively judging the standard and degree of interest of your own paper relative to the papers typically published in a journal can be especially difficult.
To do those things yourself requires a lot of reading of papers in your field, and often related fields. Read to select papers that should be referenced in your paper. Read to know the style and structure of papers in your field. Read to know what sorts of papers are published where.
Select a journal where, based on its stated scope and other papers it has published, you believe your paper would best fit. Go to that journal's web site. Look for "information for authors" or similar. If you cannot find that, use the "contact us" information to ask.
Follow the journal's process for submitting a paper. Be careful to follow all formatting guidelines. Await results. There are many questions and answers here on what results you might get and what to do about them. Broadly, the paper may be accepted or rejected outright, but often there will be questions and requests for revision. The process should improve the paper. If the final decision is rejection, consider submitting to a lower prestige journal, one that publishes less important papers than your first choice. However, avoid publishing in a predatory journal.
