High School How can I determine if my research results are worthy of publication?

[Aidan Davis]

Through trial and error I have found some very interesting results, and, for some of them, they are firsts (as in I haven't been able to find the result anywhere else). I'm looking to publish at least a few things before I start to apply to colleges (in three years). How significant must a result be to be worthy of publication? Or is anything new publishable, and less significant results just go into less prestigious journals? As someone who hasn't published before, is there a place I should submit results I believe are new and interesting, or should I go straight to a journal and try to publish it? Thanks for the help!

 

[berkeman]

Through trial and error I have found some very interesting results, and, for some of them, they are firsts (as in I haven't been able to find the result anywhere else). I'm looking to publish at least a few things before I start to apply to colleges (in three years). How significant must a result be to be worthy of publication? Or is anything new publishable, and less significant results just go into less prestigious journals? As someone who hasn't published before, is there a place I should submit results I believe are new and interesting, or should I go straight to a journal and try to publish it? Thanks for the help!

This Insights article may be of help, and @Dr. Courtney may have some tips.

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

 

[Dr. Courtney]

I mentor a bunch of high school and college research projects, many of which yield publishable results and published papers.

The difficulty of publishing in different fields varies widely, which is why the "Niches" article may be useful, as mentioned above.

For every student who I work with to see their work through to publication, I also often field a query from some science enthusiast who thinks they have some novel breakthrough, but is wrong. Worse yet, after some discussion, they often do not have the education nor the intelligence to see that they are wrong. Wrong takes different forms, but usually is some combination of 1) not novel 2) not interesting 3) a theoretical fantasy that doesn't even make testable predictions 4) some other crank theory that is just wrong (JFK conspiracy, perpetual motion, etc.)

The OP should check their PM's. If you have a coherent write-up (references help a lot), you'll have my email address and I'll have a look. Even if I lack the expertise in the field to offer substantive feedback, odds are I can put you in touch with a faculty member near you who can.