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Quite a few threads have already discussed the issue of publishing articles under a pseudonym, such as

Is pseudonymous publication ethical?

If I publish under a pseudonym, can I still take credit for my work?

among others. My question is: with journal submission being what it is today, what should one write under e.g. "Address" and "Affiliation" when writing under a pseudonym? For most journals, one has to write something in that field.

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    Ask the journal. This is the sort of thing that is entirely within editorial discretion. It's very unlikely we can give a general answer here - this is so rare and so niche that all we could do is guess or handwave... – Andrew is gone Jun 07 '16 at 07:48

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The Encyclopedia of Types of Algebras 2010 was published in the Nankai Series in Pure, Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics under the name "G. W. Zinbiel", a fictitious mathematician – the name was formed by taking the name "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz" and reversing the order of the letters in the last name (really it was Jean-Louis Loday). As you can see, the affiliation is the famous "Zinbiel Institute of Mathematics, France"... an inexistent math institute (I heard it was located in Loday's apartment in Strasbourg).

From this example (published in 2012, so it certainly reflects modern practices), my guess is that as long as the editors accept it, you can pretty much put anything you like in the "affiliation".

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You have to make your own decision on that issue and accept the impact it may have on your chances of publication.

My recommendation would depend on your field. If you are dealing with a cryptography journal you might be able to share your PGP information (or encrypted email address) and "anonymous researcher of topic XYZ"

For other Journals you may be forced to provide the name of an actual organization with a mailing address where you can actually receive mail. Whether or not a pseudonym is acceptable will depend on the Journal and whether your organization will vouch for you in some manner (perhaps least by accepting mail addressed to your pseudonym and confirming your affiliation with the organization without revealing your identity).

If you want specific advice, the name of the Journal may help (if someone here is knowledgeable about their policies). What you want to do may or may not be possible.

I will ignore any taking credit and ethical concerns since you have already read those discussions.

Of course I am assuming you have a good reason to do this, otherwise you are making things much harder on yourself than they need to be.

Lars Gustafson
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