Finding Peers for Peer Review in Scientific Research

[MattRob]

Hello,

So, I'm running into a bit of a problem. I'm seeing an implication of something well-established in GR, that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere before and would like to perhaps write a paper on it to get peer-reviewed (or more accurately, I'd like to ask questions that I think may lead to original work on the topic). I'm currently a student at a university, so I do have some access to resources. My main problem is I don't really know where to go for this. I'm aware of some study groups at my university, but due to a slew of health problems I'm having right now, I can't do much in terms of physical presence, and getting in contact with the research group remotely may be something of a challenge.

Is sending the paper to a journal an appropriate way to get peer review? Perhaps I should try hunting down contacts for the research group and see what I can do with communicating from a distance (emails, etc)?

I understand my first step should be to search and see if someone's already written on this, which I'm going to do today, but even if they have, this is a more general problem that may come up in the future as well, so I'm wondering what to do in cases where I don't see it mentioned anywhere. Ie, I'm looking for a place to ask questions that may lead to original research.

 

[Astronuc]

It is customary to ask colleagues at one's institution, however, if one is a university student, then one would have to ask faculty members who have experience in GR. For a scientist or engineer who plans to publish, it is expected that there are colleagues who are familiar with the subject matter, i.e., experts in the subject matter who can perform a 'peer' review.

 

[berkeman]

Hello,

So, I'm running into a bit of a problem. I'm seeing an implication of something well-established in GR, that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere before and would like to perhaps write a paper on it to get peer-reviewed (or more accurately, I'd like to ask questions that I think may lead to original work on the topic). I'm currently a student at a university, so I do have some access to resources. My main problem is I don't really know where to go for this. I'm aware of some study groups at my university, but due to a slew of health problems I'm having right now, I can't do much in terms of physical presence, and getting in contact with the research group remotely may be something of a challenge.

Is sending the paper to a journal an appropriate way to get peer review? Perhaps I should try hunting down contacts for the research group and see what I can do with communicating from a distance (emails, etc)?

I understand my first step should be to search and see if someone's already written on this, which I'm going to do today, but even if they have, this is a more general problem that may come up in the future as well, so I'm wondering what to do in cases where I don't see it mentioned anywhere. Ie, I'm looking for a place to ask questions that may lead to original research.

Check out the very helpful Insights article by Choppy here on the PF about how to publish in peer-reviewed journals:

https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/guide-publishing-peer-reviewed-journals/

 

[Vanadium 50]

I like what Choppy wrote, but given that half a year ago the OP's experience with GR was coming from a popularization, I think publication is probably not the right next step.

 

[ZapperZ]

Hello,

So, I'm running into a bit of a problem. I'm seeing an implication of something well-established in GR, that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere before and would like to perhaps write a paper on it to get peer-reviewed (or more accurately, I'd like to ask questions that I think may lead to original work on the topic). I'm currently a student at a university, so I do have some access to resources. My main problem is I don't really know where to go for this. I'm aware of some study groups at my university, but due to a slew of health problems I'm having right now, I can't do much in terms of physical presence, and getting in contact with the research group remotely may be something of a challenge.

Is sending the paper to a journal an appropriate way to get peer review? Perhaps I should try hunting down contacts for the research group and see what I can do with communicating from a distance (emails, etc)?

I understand my first step should be to search and see if someone's already written on this, which I'm going to do today, but even if they have, this is a more general problem that may come up in the future as well, so I'm wondering what to do in cases where I don't see it mentioned anywhere. Ie, I'm looking for a place to ask questions that may lead to original research.

This is puzzling that you somehow can't find any resources to review and critique your work when you are already at an academic institution. Why can't you approach a professor there and ask?! Surely you can check the various expertise and area of study that the faculty at you school are involved in and find the suitable person to talk to.

Why haven't you done that already?

Zz.

 

[MattRob]

I like what Choppy wrote, but given that half a year ago the OP's experience with GR was coming from a popularization, I think publication is probably not the right next step.

Hence the asking. Really, though, I guess what it is is more than thinking I have something original, I have questions that could possibly lead to original ideas. I should probably just get over my paranoia and ask here, though; I understand it's probably nothing more than a paranoia since it's so unlikely that hundreds of scientists over about a century would've had to miss it.

But I will note that although I'm no Ph.D or even a grad student, at least I finished Kip Thorne's book about a year ago, so it's a bit more experience than just popularizations.

This is puzzling that you somehow can't find any resources to review and critique your work when you are already at an academic institution. Why can't you approach a professor there and ask?! Surely you can check the various expertise and area of study that the faculty at you school are involved in and find the suitable person to talk to.

Why haven't you done that already?

Zz.

I've been somewhat afraid that it'd be considered inappropriate to try to take professors' time with independent work unrelated to any classes, especially when I'm not even taking any classes from them. I'm still picking up how the social aspects of the whole community work, but your advice seems pretty solid. For the moment, though, physically I'm somewhat constrained by health problems, but I could email.

But as I wrote in the previous paragraph, it's probably somewhat unreasonable to think this particular question would lead somewhere that nobody's gone before. I'll just ask it here in the appropriate thread.
EDIT: For the curious, I'm pursuing the question of negative spacetime curvature in rotating frames of reference - ie, the Sagnac effect, and wondering about its feasibility as a substitute for exotic matter in GR solutions that require exotic matter. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/the-sagnac-effect.816045/#post-5124866

 

[Vanadium 50]

I've been somewhat afraid that it'd be considered inappropriate to try to take professors' time with independent work unrelated to any classe

It is. It's the job of the professor to teach their students, not someone else.

It's also inappropriate to send a paper to a journal to get help with it. It's not the journal's job to pair up confused amateurs with professionals who can help them.

negative spacetime curvature in rotating frames of reference

No such thing.

 

[MattRob]

It is. It's the job of the professor to teach their students, not someone else.

It's also inappropriate to send a paper to a journal to get help with it. It's not the journal's job to pair up confused amateurs with professionals who can help them.

Which would seem to be quiet the opposite of what ZapperZ was saying. Ultimately perhaps it'd be more fair to say it comes down to the attitude of the individual professor.

Thanks for the input, that's kind of one of the things I was asking here, though I think "curious student" would be more appropriate than "confused amateur."

No such thing.

Linked thread explains this. If you define the spatial geometry by the behavior of measuring rods and clocks co-moving with the frame of reference (ie, stationary in the non-inertial, rotating frame), and use the behavior of two parallel paths to test the curvature of a space, then a rotating frame of reference can produce a sort of pseudo-negative curvature because initially parallel lines will appear to separate with an increase in radial distance from the axis of rotation, and by the Sagnac effect, using those same co-moving measuring rods one will conclude that $\frac{C}{2r} > π$, which is the opposite of the behavior of a space endowed with a non-exotic compact object. Though really this is discussion that if it is to continue, should be moved to the linked thread.

 

[Evo]

Thread closed.