I Need An Accredited Paleontologist To Review My Research...

[ankletz]

I have some research that I need validated on some profound discoveries I made and was hopeful that an accredited paleontologist that deals with evolution and early marine organisms could take a moment to review my materials?

[jpc]

What makes an accredited paleontologist? There are a few of us on here who make our living as paleontologists. I work in a museum and would be willing to give it a look. Yes, I am intrigued.

[erose]

You need to find people working on similar things probably. You could do a literature search on a similar subject and then look for recent papers. Follow through with the names, where they are teaching or working and contact them that way.

[Auspex]

You had my attention at "profound discoveries"; can you illuminate that a bit without giving your project away?

[Boesse]

There's not really such a thing as an accredited paleontologist. There are paleontologists with advanced degrees, and paleontologists without any degrees, and while the former group is more likely to be what you're looking for, I've met many of the former who are incompetent and many of the latter who really know what they're doing and are taken seriously within their field.

Science generally isn't governed by laws, so our rules are less concrete (in some ways) - we don't have the equivalent of a notary or a certified public accountant, and the most important thing dictating the "worth" of a scientist is their knowledge - which is sometimes capped by a diploma, or perhaps not. We don't restrict peer review to reviewers with Ph.D's, for example; I don't yet have a Ph.D. (that will change a few months from now) and have reviewed over a dozen manuscripts, and in turn have had my manuscripts reviewed by those without a Ph.D. - for example.

So to echo the comments above, you need to find someone who specifically knows about the topic, which often takes a fair amount of searching. We can probably give you some pointers.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Boesse

[verydeadthings]

I'll second Boesse. Specifically what age and kind of marine organism are you talking about? You've piqued my curiosity

[Ludwigia]

You need to find people working on similar things probably. You could do a literature search on a similar subject and then look for recent papers. Follow through with the names, where they are teaching or working and contact them that way.

I agree that that's the way for you to go. You may also discover that some of these researchers are "amateurs" without degrees in palaeontology, but don't let that deter you. Some of them know their specific subjects better than the professionals.