Publication does matter

Much easier to talk value of publication in a peer reviewed mathematical journal now, versus over a decade ago, when I was published in what I like to call a wacky story. The chief editor tried to literally pull the paper after publication by simply deleting out from the electronic file, and claimed it was withdrawn, when I never withdrew it.

The paper is "Advanced Polynomial Factorization", published in the Southwest Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, Issue 2, December 2003, pp. 6–8.
Submitted: July 25, 2003. Published: December 31 2003

Copied from my post, where also is a link to paper: Publishing a contradiction

And EMIS simply put up a copy of my original, and is worth talking why publication matters which to me is NOT for recognition.

To me the value of publication is in sharing truths which open opportunity to finding greater truths.

Where that opportunity is like an open door, and for me was a joy in going through it, where have simplified that original argument, gained a greater understanding of mathematics in the process, and found a path to even greater knowledge.

We share best for each other, and human progress has occurred because of vast quantities of valuable shared information. That some person merely kept hidden away, which disintegrated in time never to be seen? Is not part of our shared human story. But that is a choice one can make.

Maybe the reaction I got was telling, back then. Some howled in fury, maybe helping push that chief editor. Others decried the supposed horrible impact on the math discipline, oh horror, as if. And many dismissed the math journal process as a broken joke.

So yeah, much easier to talk calmly and with objectivity, with experience, after over a decade. Math and emotion do not go well together, I like to say.

When two anonymous reviewers--as the now defunct journal used two--did the right thing, looking at correctness over social implications. And EMIS has done the right thing, preserving information rather than putting on a social filter.

And society is better for people who understand the value of process and opportunity given, rather than simply looking to take opportunity away.

The math does not change, regardless.

Share best for opportunity to learn more, in my opinion. And the journal process will do just fine, as long as keeps opening doors revealed from shared truths, to further greater knowledge.


James Harris