Kinds of claim
Theory
A formal or conceptual construct.
What this track claims, and what it is held to
- The claim
- A formal or conceptual construct.
- Assessed hardest
- Internal consistency, derivation, boundary conditions, falsifiability.
- Not required
- Data. A theory paper with no dataset is complete.
The four kinds of claim sort papers by what they assert, not by how good they are. They are orthogonal to discipline: every journal carries all four, none ranks above another, and a paper does not improve by moving between them. A paper sent to the wrong one is redirected, which is one of the six outcomes and carries no fee.
Where Theory is open
Every journal carries Theory. Which journals are accepting submissions today is shown in the directory. A paper sent to a track a journal has not yet opened is returned as not yet eligible, which records that the track is closed and says nothing about the paper. It is not a rejection and it counts for nothing against a later submission.