> I mean, anybody can do research and publish their papers in whatever journal. Not really true. Publishing research in a reputable journal without an academic

> I mean, anybody can do research and publish their papers in whatever journal. Not really true. Publishing research in a reputable journal without an academic affiliation is many times more difficult. Sure you don't need a PhD to publish, but you pretty much need an academic affiliation. Good or bad, researchers without an affiliation are often taken as crackpots.