(archive)
Press
The Economist
"Huddled Maths"
29 July 2009, print edition.
Other Things
Rejecta Mathematica is a new, open access, online journal that publishes only papers that have been rejected from peer-reviewed journals (or conferences with comparable review standards) in the mathematical sciences. We are currently seeking submissions for our inaugural issue.
About Rejecta Mathematica
At Rejecta Mathematica, we believe that many previously rejected papers can nonetheless have a very real value to the academic community. This value may take many forms: - "mapping the blind alleys of science": papers containing negative results can warn others against futile directions;
- "reinventing the wheel": papers accidentally rederiving a known result may contain new insight or ideas;
- "squaring the circle": papers discovered to contain a serious technical flaw may nevertheless contain information or ideas of interest;
- "applications of cold fusion": papers based on a controversial premise may contain ideas applicable in more traditional settings;
- "misunderstood genius": other papers may simply have no natural home among existing journals.
Many authors of a rejected paper may simply have disagreed with or chosen to not address the original reviewers'' concerns. Rejecta Mathematica also gives those authors the chance to speak out in defense of their own paper.One very unique aspect of Rejecta Mathematica is that each paper includes an open letter from the authors discussing the paper''s original review process, disclosing any known flaws in the paper and stating the case for the paper''s value to the community.
Scope
The scope of Rejecta Mathematica is very broad, encompassing all disciplines relating to the mathematical sciences, including: pure and applied mathematics, statistics, engineering, and computer science. Rejecta Mathematica places no conditions on the original reasons for a paper''s rejection; all papers that can be legally published will be considered.
Editorial Policies
The screening process for publication in Rejecta Mathematica includes no technical peer review (hence the slogan Caveat Emptor). In the open letter, it is expected that the authors will discuss any known flaws in their paper with full and honest disclosure. Our primary editorial focus is to select papers based on their apparent potential interest to researchers in the mathematical sciences. Rejecta Mathematica is a unique social and academic experiment, and the papers we publish will be interesting for a wide variety of (often nontraditional) reasons.
Submissions
All authors holding papers, old or new, rejected from a peer reviewed journal in the mathematical sciences are welcome to submit papers for consideration in Rejecta Mathematica. The submission process is extremely simple; in most cases the original rejected manuscript can be submitted with little or no revision. Please see the author guidelines for more details.