The publish step of the scientific method always seemed out of place to me - it means you can't discover anything on your own, which doesn't seem correct to me.

The publish step of the scientific method always seemed out of place to me - it means you can't discover anything on your own, which doesn't seem correct to me. However, to discover something new (not just new to you) does require contact with established knowledge. And if you don't publish, you can't be very sure that it really is "new"; and it does not become part of established knowledge - it has not been discovered. i.e. the concept of discovering new knowledge means it cannot be done on a desert island.