How do scientific research articles get published? How do we know their results aren’t faked? What exactly are scientific journals and how do researchers get revenue from publishing their research work?
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**How do scientific research articles get published?**
A given journal has a panel of scientists that perform a peer review on submitted papers. An established scientist in a relevant field reads of the paper looking for flaws and trying to establish whether it is interesting enough to be published.
**How do we know their results aren’t faked?**
If a paper presents interesting and novel results, two things will happen. First, the paper will be scrutinized for errors and anomalies, faking data in a way that will pass deep statistical analysis is actually quite difficult. Next, if there are no obvious flaws, other scientists will try to replicate the experiment to get the same results. That will quickly expose any shenanigans, many a career has been ruined by simply overstating results, much less faking them.
**What exactly are scientific journals?**
A journal will typically be associated with a scientific organization, like a university or a professional group, although some are independent. They invite scientists in their field to submit papers, provide peer reviewers to ensure quality, and publish results they consider interesting. The more prestigious the journal, the higher the quality of the submissions, the more accomplished the peer reviewers, and the higher the cost. Some run thousands of dollars per year.
**How do researchers get revenue from publishing their research work?**
They don’t, not directly. Publishing does three things for the researcher, it ensures they get credit for the discovery, it improves their reputation (and job prospects) within the field, and it justifies their existence to their employers, particularly those in academia.
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