TITLE: When should I publish my results?
QUESTION [28 upvotes]: I just finish my masters thesis, and I was told by one of the referees that I should publish some of the results in there. However I feel that I mainly repeat arguments by other people in a slightly more general form.
I do feel that I improved certain results. I also approach these results in a different way (thanks to several decades of mathematical development). However the ideas behind the proofs are not mine, and I feel that all I do is rehash the original idea.
Of course for a masters thesis this is fine, I do feel very happy with what I did. However I don't know whether or not I should write those into a paper form.
I was hoping to get a general advice from those more experienced than me. When do you publish a result? Especially as a young mathematician-to-be.

REPLY [16 votes]: I think that publishing a reappraisal and generalization of older work in modern terms can be very useful, provided you clearly label it as such in your paper. Depending on the field, there might be some journals who would gladly publish this kind of paper and others who wouldn't consider it, so you might want to consult your advisor about where to submit to.