Elizabeth,

Wow, that was some experience!

I've had similar (in a way) experiences sending in some of my physics articles for publication.... I've had 8 research papers published in physics journals (soon it will be be 9), but that doesn't mean I didn't have rejections!

In fact, I had this VERY strange experience a few years ago....

During part of my Ph.D. I tried to do some *very* original research. I tried to be as different and new as possible.... I came up with some new and (I thought) interesting results, and then I wrote a research paper about it..... I found that trying to be *too* original can bring some strange consequences....

I first submitted my research paper to a journal called Physical Review A. After a few months, I got the response back from the referee.... who said that my paper would be interesting if it was right -- but unfortunately my results were wrong.

I knew the referee must have completely misunderstood my paper, because their detailed comments didn't make much sense.... So I rewrote it (to try to make it clearer), then sent it to another journal, Physics Letters A....

A few months later, I got their response back. I never thought this could happen....

I couldn't believe it....

I was stunned!

They said that my paper was right -- but my results were not interesting!

The exact opposite of what the first journal said.... That really blew me away!

Finally, I rewrote it again (to make clearer why it was interesting), and sent it to another journal.... Foundations of Physics. When I got their response, I heaved a sigh of relief.... They published it! It appeared in Foundations of Physics in 1997....

I guess what I learned is that sometimes, you gotta take what comes and just keep working at it! :)

Dien Rice