Why am I limited to 3 submissions

May 2019: Default limit changed from 7 to 3

• The editors are drowning in submissions. In an attempt to remedy this, we have lowered the submission limit from 7 to 3.

• This is to try to force people to only submit the most important new sequences or comments.

• If you think your limit should be increased, write to admin@oeis.org

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• If you are still restricted to three submissions even after being a contributor for a good length of time, this is because your submissions usually require editing, and we are very short of editors.
• Remember that all the editing is done by volunteers. We have no paid staff, and we are swamped with submissions.
• Reasons your submissions needed editing include:
  • Unclear definition (imprecise thinking)
  • Poor English
  • Sequence was not of general interest or was not appropriate for the OEIS
  • Errors in sequence
  • Badly formatted submission, or not formatted in the OEIS style (see Style Sheet on OEIS Wiki)
  • Links or references not in correct order
  • Sequence was already in OEIS

• Also:
  • When you give a formula or a comment, please be sure to say whether it is a conjecture (or empirical observation) or a theorem that you can prove
  • Don't argue with the editors!

• It is strongly recommended that you look at the changes that the editors make, and learn from what they do. It is a very bad idea to repeatedly make the same errors.

• People who submit perfectly formatted submissions usually do not have a limit of 3.

• We don't like having to impose limits, and we would much rather your submissions were perfect!

• Think of this in terms of getting a pilot's license to fly a plane. The rule is that every take-off and landing has to be perfect. If we have to send out the ambulance or the fire truck every time you land, you get a limit of 3!

Further comments from one of the Editors-in-Chief

Before you submit a sequence, it is not enough just to compute the terms. You also have to formulate a concise, precise, easily understandable definition; motivate it with comments in correct English; and find related sequences to include as cross-references.

For example, if you wish to submit "powers of 3 without 0", you should to refer to already-published sequences such as "powers of 2 with digit 0" or "... without digit 0", also the corresponding exponents, and so on.

If your submission meets all these requirements, it will get published as fast as if it were from anyone else.

But if editors see that there is a lot of work to be done and they don't have the time to do it, then they will probably move on to the next contribution of someone who was willing to invest all this time *prior to* the submission.

The Editors of the OEIS are often overwhelmed — remember, they do this on a volunteer basis — they sacrifice their spare time and don't get any money for it. They cannot serve as a "translator" or "ghost writer", to do the work for you.

In any scientific journal, your article will be rejected without being read if it is not well written. In the OEIS we are a little bit more tolerant, but the users have to show that they respect the editors, who are not their slaves, and that they are willing to learn from errors which have been corrected previously.

Additional remarks from one of the Editors

Note that the "Proposed Drafts" stack (https://oeis.org/draft) is not a first-in, first-out queue. Although perhaps the prioritization process may seem somewhat unfair and ad hoc, it isn't really — because you, the submitter, ultimately have control. If you spend the time to prepare everything (programs, right number of terms, good English, good definition, reliable track record of no errors with information that is perceived to be relevant and useful) your submissions will be approved fairly quickly.

On the other hand, if your submissions are along the lines of "Primes of the form ((p2*p3) - p1) +-1", with eight hand-calculated terms and debatable merit, then it can take a long time to make a final decision on whether to reject or approve. There are lots of submissions and it is isn't reasonable for you to expect your submissions to be given the same priority as something that is well prepared and of strong mathematical merit. Think carefully about what you want to submit, write it out on paper, look it over a week later, take it to someone to read through, etc., and prepare it very carefully before clicking 'propose'. Otherwise, be prepared to wait.

The purpose of the OEIS is to create a high-quality mathematical database that is of use to mathematicians doing research. (Like Wikipedia, but with a slightly different focus.) It's not a publishing farm for everyone who wants to get something onto the Internet — the interests of maintaining overall quality come before you or me or anyone else. Good original work or potentially useful information gets published fairly fast and the rest may or may not be eventually accepted.