AVOID FRUITLESS EXPERIMENTS 



35 



very rare, cases have arisen in which laboratory workers have pre- 

 ferred apparently to present their evidence directly to the public by 

 submitting their experimental results initially to the newspapers. 

 This is frowned upon by most scientists and is not recommended, even 

 though there may have been a few instances in which it was seemingly 

 necessary to do so owing to the closed minds of those on the "scien- 

 tific jury." 



Fig. 4. An early historical example of effective publication (after von Guericke). 



A conscious attempt to select the most appropriate medium of 

 pubhcation should always be made. Whether an article will be ac- 

 cepted for publication by the journal chosen may depend on subjec- 

 tive as well as on objective factors. Therefore, to some extent, an 

 element of luck or chance is involved. Most articles are submitted 

 to one or more independent referees for approval prior to acceptance. 

 These referees are fellow scientists acting in good faith, one should 

 assume, and in the interests of science. Before becoming bitter 

 about a rejection slip for a manuscript, it is well to consider not only 

 the probability aspect just mentioned but also the possibility that 

 perhaps, after all, it was a fruitless experiment from the standpoint of 

 some of the factors discussed in this chapter. Remember, too, that 

 it is a rare manuscript that cannot be improved by constructive 

 criticism. 



