Can I Write a Scientific Paper Without Mathematical Proof?

[bubblewrap]

Can I write a scientific paper with just the ideas? Without any mathematical proof. I plan on writing about the origin of the universe.

 

[DaveC426913]

Define 'scientific paper'.

Of course you can write a paper if you want. The question is, what do you want to do with it?

Submit it to a peer-reviewed journal? No.

 

[Quantum Defect]

Define 'scientific paper'.

Of course you can write a paper if you want. The question is, what do you want to do with it?

Submit it to a peer-reviewed journal? No.

Depends upon the "peer-reviewed" journal... :)

http://www.nature.com/news/publishers-withdraw-more-than-120-gibberish-papers-1.14763
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who's_Afraid_of_Peer_Review?
[language Warning!] http://io9.com/sham-journal-accepts-totally-absurd-but-completely-appr-1661329028

 

[bubblewrap]

I do wish to publish my paper to a scientific journal, will it not get through if I don't have a supporting data?
I changed my plan to contain more mathematical language but not of proofs, just the consequences of my theory.
Also will age and educational background matter? I'm currently in high school so will it matter?

 

[Vanadium 50]

I do wish to publish my paper to a scientific journal, will it not get through if I don't have a supporting data?

Of course not. It's not science without data.

You would be better served by reading journals than worrying about writing in one. Scientific publication is a dialog, and wanting to write without reading is the same as trying to have a conversation by talking and not listening.

 

[bubblewrap]

Of course not. It's not science without data.

You would be better served by reading journals than worrying about writing in one. Scientific publication is a dialog, and wanting to write without reading is the same as trying to have a conversation by talking and not listening.

Thank you Vanadium 50, I thought that I should have studied more as well. Since I'm not subscribing to any journals (magazines I have), can you recommend one for me? Would Nature Physics be good enough?

 

[Vanadium 50]

I would start with a trip to the library to see which journals you understand before subscribing to any of them.

 

[mfb]

I think you misunderstand how scientific publications work. Writing down some "idea" in english words is not science. This is an example of a scientific result (from theoretical particle physics) - and you'll have to read a lot of publications before you can produce something like that on your own. You can also check the experimental side - that needs an actual experiment and data from it.

 

[bubblewrap]

I guess I did misunderstood it, off to reading some journals then :)

 

[russ_watters]

It's good to be ambitious, especialy at your age, so don't get discouraged by this. You'll find when you look at some of the journals that they appear to be written in a different language, even though you recognize most of the words as being English. "Doing" science is a serious pursuit and it will take a decade of serious study just to gain enough knowledge to understand fully what is in those papers, before even being capable of writing your own that is on the same level.