My opinion

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Hippocrates of Kos, Father of Medicine, published theories and practices. The question is whether he documented affiliation to any ancient institution as pre-requirement before publication unless he himself rose to such status that his name had become an institution in itself. Alternatively, ancient institutions in their infancy might have been too young to rein in ancient authors. Moreover, ancient authors might have been loner pioneers actually giving birth and thence nurturing those infant-aged ancient institutions. Fast-forward two millenniums, Bernardus Carnotensis [1] allegedly quoted nanos gigantum humeris insidentes [2] to suggest modern dwarfs riding on ancient giants. Analogously, modern academics may have grown exponentially while drawing on much larger institutional investment and more powerful peer feedback as compared to what their ancient predecessors might have depended on. Thus, the question now becomes whether anyone without affiliation [3] can publish to document theories and practices and whether anyone with affiliation can forgo disclosure of affiliation to publish independently developed theories and independently finessed practices. The counterargument can be that none can be perfectly independent when developing theories or finessing practices especially when modern academic physicians are employed to innovate while overseeing multidisciplinary research teams plus teaching plethora of students and treating diverse patient population. This opportune era has become possible secondary to institutions hands-down outgrowing at faster rate with wider reach thus outpacing and outperforming loner pioneers’ individualistic growth. However, when authors may not be acknowledging their own lives or their families wherein their seen-heard-felt life-family experiences too may be contributing by seeding publishable theories and inspiring designable practices, the documentation of affiliation by authors may be optional rather than required especially when authors may have envisaged theories and/or reshaped practices while experiencing life inside as well as outside institutions unless documentation of affiliations may only be for the sake of disclosing conflicts of interest [4].

Reference(s)

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1. Bernard of Chartres. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_of_Chartres
2. nanos gigantum humeris insidentes. https://www.latin-is-simple.com/en/vocabulary/phrase/1147/
3. Can a individual without affiliation to a university or research institute publish research papers? What would be the journals stand in such case? https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_a_individual_without_affiliation_to_a_university_or_research_i nstitute_publish_research_papers_What_would_be_the_journals_stand_in_such_case
4. Declaring Conflicts of Interest as a Researcher. https://pubsure.researcher.life/article/declaring-conflicts-of-interest-as-a-researcher

Source(s) of Funding

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NOT APPLICABLE

Competing Interests

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NOT APPLICABLE