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"Outside the Mainstream" Forum
To the members of the PF community,
As the next step in the growth of Physics Forums, we are updating our policy concerning the development of personal theories at this website. We will be creating a new, moderated Forum entitled Outside the Mainstream, wherein such theories can be submitted for approval by the Staff and Science Advisors of Physics Forums. We will implement this new policy in such a way as to be of maximum benefit first to Physics Forums and second to you, the theorist. The policy change will take effect on July 15, 2005, and the new Forum will be a Subforum of Scepticism and Debunking.
To guarantee that the scientific and academic integrity of Physics Forums is not compromised we will only accept independent research that conforms to strict guidelines, which will be posted at the top of the new Forum.
To guarantee sufficient latitude to the independent theorist guidelines will not be imposed as to the probable truth or falsity of the submitted theory. Rather, the guidelines will be constraints on methodology and format.
As a consequence of this upgrade, all non mainstream posts and threads that were formerly moved to Theory Development will henceforth be deleted. If your post or thread is deleted under this policy you will receive a Private Message indicating such, and you will be invited to resubmit to the new Outside the Mainstream Forum, according to the guidelines of that Forum. All submissions will be sent to a moderation queue, where they will be discussed by the Staff and Science Advisors. We will notify you with a decision within 7 days. If your submission is rejected, you will be told the reason, and you will be given one opportunity to resubmit.
We believe that this new feature will serve as the next step in PF's upward development, and that it will be enjoyable for our most original, creative members.
The following new Theory Development Guidelines will be posted at the top of the new Forum and will Take Effect July 15, 2005
We welcome your questions and feedback.
Tom
To the members of the PF community,
As the next step in the growth of Physics Forums, we are updating our policy concerning the development of personal theories at this website. We will be creating a new, moderated Forum entitled Outside the Mainstream, wherein such theories can be submitted for approval by the Staff and Science Advisors of Physics Forums. We will implement this new policy in such a way as to be of maximum benefit first to Physics Forums and second to you, the theorist. The policy change will take effect on July 15, 2005, and the new Forum will be a Subforum of Scepticism and Debunking.
To guarantee that the scientific and academic integrity of Physics Forums is not compromised we will only accept independent research that conforms to strict guidelines, which will be posted at the top of the new Forum.
To guarantee sufficient latitude to the independent theorist guidelines will not be imposed as to the probable truth or falsity of the submitted theory. Rather, the guidelines will be constraints on methodology and format.
As a consequence of this upgrade, all non mainstream posts and threads that were formerly moved to Theory Development will henceforth be deleted. If your post or thread is deleted under this policy you will receive a Private Message indicating such, and you will be invited to resubmit to the new Outside the Mainstream Forum, according to the guidelines of that Forum. All submissions will be sent to a moderation queue, where they will be discussed by the Staff and Science Advisors. We will notify you with a decision within 7 days. If your submission is rejected, you will be told the reason, and you will be given one opportunity to resubmit.
We believe that this new feature will serve as the next step in PF's upward development, and that it will be enjoyable for our most original, creative members.
The following new Theory Development Guidelines will be posted at the top of the new Forum and will Take Effect July 15, 2005
1. The opening post must contain an abstract stating the results obtained and how the new theory is at variance with currently accepted theories.
2. If an independently researched theory makes claims different from those made by currently accepted theories then the opening post must contain a section that either cites experiments that have been done that decide between the new and old theories, or it must propose experiments that could be done to decide between the two.
3. If an independently researched theory is experimentally indistinguishable from a currently accepted theory then the opening post must contain a section that clearly explains the conceptual differences between the two, and what if anything is to be gained from the new perspective.
4. All references to relevant prior work must be documented in the opening post.
5. Quantitative predictions must be derived, wherever appropriate.
6. New theories must not be already strongly inconsistent with the results of prior experiments.
7. If a new theory is strongly inconsistent with prior experiments, but the theorist is insisting that the experiments were either misconducted or misinterpreted by the scientific community, then the thread will be rejected. Instead the theorist should rebut the contradicting scientists in an appropriate journal.
8. Theories containing obvious mathematical or logical errors will not be accepted.
The decision to accept or reject a thread for this Subforum rests with the Staff and Science Advisors of Physics Forums. Decisions will be reached by consensus, and will be based entirely on the guidelines listed above. No Staff Member or Science Advisor will participate in the discussion of his or her own thread.
Action will be taken on all threads within 7 days of submission. If a thread is accepted then it will appear in this Subforum. If a thread is rejected the theorist will receive a PM from me that states the reason(s) for rejecting it.
Threads in this Subforum will not exceed 60 posts. I will take care to delete responses which are not relevant to the topic.
If rejected, theorists will be granted one opportunity to address the stated reasons for rejection, and to resubmit. Threads submitted to this Subforum that are not substantially different from previously terminated threads (after the 3 page limit) or threads that have been rejected twice will not be considered.
We welcome your questions and feedback.
Tom
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