How to go about to publish a paper?

[ChrisN]

Hi all,

I assume that some of you have already published one or more research papers.

So, here are my questions:

How to you go about contacting professors/PhD students, etc. to co-author a paper?
How to you get involved in research to contribute towards a publication?

If you are to publish by yourself, where do you find topics of interest to a specific field? (For example, if a new theory or a model in Finance needs testing, how would you know so maybe you can create your own tests or help someone else with testing and then (co-)publish it?

I am not currently a PhD student (or a student in general). I am working in the financial sector, slowly breaking in into quant development and I would definitely like to get involved in such activities.

Thanks,
Chris.

 

[ChrisN]

Guys no one?

 

[Joy Pathak]

Read current papers published in last few years and try to expand or use them to brainstorm ideas of new topics.

 

[Joy Pathak]

Come up with a topic and ask prof if he would like to be an advisor. If not ask a prof for a topic he is currently working on and ask if he would like assistance.

 

[ChrisN]

I understand that and thanks a lot for replying, BUT... how can I approach someone to co-publish?

Since I don't have any publications myself and I am not currently within academia, it would be next to impossible to publish something on my own, unless my paper is the century's breakthrough (which I can assure you from now that it won't be)

Thanks!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

A lot of people are publishing their papers on SSRN.
http://www.ssrn.com/

 

[Tsotne]

A lot of people are publishing their papers on SSRN.
http://www.ssrn.com/

Andy is the material you publish there recognized by professors or knowledgeable people from academia? Thanks

 

[Devdeep]

I understand that and thanks a lot for replying, BUT... how can I approach someone to co-publish?

Since I don't have any publications myself and I am not currently within academia, it would be next to impossible to publish something on my own, unless my paper is the century's breakthrough (which I can assure you from now that it won't be)

Thanks!

@ChrisN, You are right... it might be hard to publish something completely on your own to begin with... once you have some experience... you can then definitely think about doing that...

So... what's the solution?

First... figure out which topic(s) you are mostly interested in... let's say... "Volatility Modeling"...

Now...

1) Either try to go to some conference where there are a lot of professors and/or people from the industry who are heavily involved in publishing articles in "Volatility Modeling"...

OR

2) Contact someone working in that field directly and ask for ~ 15-30 minutes of his/her time...

During your meeting, show you true interest and portray your skills that are well-suited for that research work... describe what you can bring to the table so that (s)he would be interested in advising you... make sure you have read some of that person's paper prior to the meeting...

GOOD LUCK~!

 

[Devdeep]

A lot of people are publishing their papers on SSRN.
http://www.ssrn.com/

Andy... this seems to be an Abstract Database and an Electronic Paper Collection... NOT a peer-reviewed journal... am I wrong?

Andy is the material you publish there recognized by professors or knowledgeable people from academia? Thanks

I have the same question...

 

[ChrisN]

Thanks a lot Devdeep... makes a lot of sense what you proposed!

 

[Devdeep]

Thanks a lot Devdeep... makes a lot of sense what you proposed!

You are most welcome... and if it does not work for the first, or the first two, or the first three professors you talk to... it will probably work for the 4th professor. So don't give up hope... [since I am not sure about the probability of any given professor accepting the proposal... I can not provide the expected number of professors you need to talk to... ! ]

 

[Tsotne]

..........I have the same question...

It'd be better if we had such source being able to publish paper that'll be considered as having academic background. Useful when not necessarily being PhD student and still be able to publish academic work. At least that'd be a good preparation for PhD. Anyone knowing such source?

 

[ChrisN]

To be honest, not that I say that there is anything wrong with a PhD, being able to publish interesting papers for something you are interested in and you consider the area you want to focus and work is both really good for your researching skills and at the same time your status (a friend of mine published a couple of papers and he is highly looked upon at work)!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

You don't need anyone to co-author if you write something useful all by yourself.. A question needs to be asked about the motivation for doing such a thing.
Do you just want to say that you publish a paper? Do you want your paper to be peer-reviewed in prestigious journals (whatever that means these days)?
The former is pretty easy these days (everyone has a website). The latter is more structured.

 

[Tsotne]

To be honest, not that I say that there is anything wrong with a PhD, being able to publish interesting papers for something you are interested in and you consider the area you want to focus and work is both really good for your researching skills and at the same time your status (a friend of mine published a couple of papers and he is highly looked upon at work)!

That's what I was referring to. Actually we can publish research papers that develops our researching skills but as for status it depends where and how you publish it. If we published a paper that is not recognized as an university thesis or diploma research, nor recognized by academics then it's a bit difficult to get it recognized at work too. Are you talking about free publish on some web sources?

 

[ChrisN]

Main reasons are the following:

1) Work on something interesting and become more knowledgeable on the topic
2) Enhance my research skills
3) Collaborate with other researchers and exchange views. Network as well.
4) If something is indeed published (I confess) the satisfaction and recognition of the work published.

 

[Tsotne]

Do you want your paper to be peer-reviewed in prestigious journals (whatever that means these days)?
The latter is more structured.

Apart from PhD, approaching professors (whether it will be assistance, co-authoring or just getting him be a supervisor of your own work) to get your work recognized seems to be the most appropriate solution.

 

[ChrisN]

That's what I was referring to. Actually we can publish research papers that develops our researching skills but as for status it depends where and how you publish it. If we published a paper that is not recognized as an university thesis or diploma research, nor recognized by academics then it's a bit difficult to get it recognized at work too. Are you talking about free publish on some web sources?

I have a blog if I want to "publish" anything. I just want to work on it and present it more formally!

 

[Tsotne]

I have a blog if I want to "publish" anything. I just want to work on it and present it more formally!

I understand. I'm talking about pre-PhD preparation phase. Admission committee will consider your previous research experiences and the papers you have published, worked on during the recent periods, recommendations from professors stating your research abilities, etc. So gaining satisfaction from researching is really great and most important but in real life it alone is not that enough in the above sense. You should get your work recognized not in order to have "published" but to have published.

 

[ChrisN]

Agreed... and thanks a lot guys for taking the time to comment!