What I have learned from the last 5 years as Editor

By being a general science theory journal we did not fit any niche.
         There definitely was and is a need for a journal such as ours but we were difficult to pigeonhole and did not get much traction by the mainstream. Not only did we accept articles from all fields of science, we focused on the development of theory. Rather than single hypothesis papers, we encouraged and desired theory integration and development for a better understanding of the universe.

The Journal of Theoretics facilitated the sharing of theories and ideas.
         By offering a forum for intelligent and viable articles whose theories did not fit the usual niches of scientific publication, we advanced Science. From our Comments section to the correspondence with authors that frequently occurred, theory development was facilitated. It has frequently occurred that one paper will even inspire another to go further with a paper of their own.

There are brilliant people out there who are not being tapped effectively.
         I am a fairly intelligent individual but the brilliance of our many of our authors has frequently impressed me and other readers alike. Also academic credentials did not seem to play any role in how brilliant an article was.

We offered publication for great articles from people for whom English is difficult and their articles would have been rejected by other journals.
         One of the most difficult but most rewarding tasks we have had is to help foreign authors who have had great theories but their English has kept them from getting published. This goes along with one of our tenants which was to not only to publish articles but to work with the authors to get their theories ready for publication.

We developed a new type of review process.
         Rather than a author having to prove that his theory is right to the reviewer, we had to prove that his/her theory was wrong. This acceptance criterion I believe is unique and though it was more work, the results were worth it.

Articles which develop theory do not fit the accepted publication format of mainstream journals.
         Hence these types of articles do not get published. One of the first decisions that we made, was to not hold authors to a rigid format. A theory’s scientific field, complexity, and more will determine the format in which it needs to be explained and shown to be scientifically viable. No one format will work and the author is given leeway in determining the best way to present it.

Graduate students should be required to take courses in logic and theory development.
         Courses such as these for graduate science students are rarely required but are key to advancing Science.

Theoretics will hopefully go on and one day have the scientific influence that it deserves.
 

Dr. Siepmann, Editor
Journal of Theoretics

 

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