It's difficult to generalize but the suggestions so far seem good. Email is a great tool but at times it is also a curse.

Like many researchers/professors I receive hundreds of emails per day and spend more time answering correspondence than any other activity. Mainly this is bureaucracy involved with running a lab, doing institutional administration, committee work and teaching students. A smaller fraction of emails include technical questions from people I don't know, general inquires about graduate school, requests for reagents and so on. Some I answer, some I mean to answer (flag) but somehow don't and some I plain ignore. If the questions are something I feel can be answered by a little digging on the internet, then I'm unlikely to reply because I just don't have the time. Personalized emails that make it clear why I am the best or perhaps only person able to answer have the best chance of a response. The better known the scientist, the more inundated with inquires they will be. Many may not even monitor their principal email address directly but instead have a secretary or assistant screen the incoming mail. Not much one can do about that. Most researchers aren't lazy but simply way over-committed. With research funding very tight, we have less and less time for anything but write or review grants! Likewise, institutions are increasingly shifting the bureaucratic burden onto the investigators themselves. Sorry if this is turning into a rant....

I think it is usual to have a low answer rate if you send a questionnaire to a stranger

did you personalize each email or did you send one mail with multiple recipients?

I would think the persons you contacted are too busy or the opinion/guidance that you have requested could not be done through email answer. One thing important is that you should personalize each email. Also you should parse your questions in such a way they can be directly answerable. Also do not ask too many in a single email.

I try to personalize my emails as much as possible, and keep them within a reasonable length. Besides, most of what I have inquired about are things that can be answered with a monosyllable (yes/no). I would assume that when you are asked to share an idea or a technique based on your area of expertise, it means that someone is interested in what you are doing, which you should be happy to do. I may be wrong but sometimes i assume its just laziness.

Mustapha

If that is the case it is difficult to understand for not responding. Only other problem could be that the email address is wrong or it has gone into spam box for some reason.

It's difficult to generalize but the suggestions so far seem good. Email is a great tool but at times it is also a curse.

Like many researchers/professors I receive hundreds of emails per day and spend more time answering correspondence than any other activity. Mainly this is bureaucracy involved with running a lab, doing institutional administration, committee work and teaching students. A smaller fraction of emails include technical questions from people I don't know, general inquires about graduate school, requests for reagents and so on. Some I answer, some I mean to answer (flag) but somehow don't and some I plain ignore. If the questions are something I feel can be answered by a little digging on the internet, then I'm unlikely to reply because I just don't have the time. Personalized emails that make it clear why I am the best or perhaps only person able to answer have the best chance of a response. The better known the scientist, the more inundated with inquires they will be. Many may not even monitor their principal email address directly but instead have a secretary or assistant screen the incoming mail. Not much one can do about that. Most researchers aren't lazy but simply way over-committed. With research funding very tight, we have less and less time for anything but write or review grants! Likewise, institutions are increasingly shifting the bureaucratic burden onto the investigators themselves. Sorry if this is turning into a rant....

Angus Wilson, not at all. It was quite informative. What I can assume based on what you said is that, something may be wrong with my email content or approach or even both. Anyways, I found a solution for my queries through the Zymoresearch representative. Thanks

Dear All,

What I understood from Angus Wislon was that when we approach these super busy professors who may be busy doing the primary things that really matter to them we need to find a way to capture their attention for a minute or two.

What I do not know is ... "how exactly can this be achieved?"

In my opinion some possible yes or no answers may very well be situational and require some accompanying explanation to make clear sense and or to avoid misleading a junior colleague.

Sherman.

I am impressed by this your chat. I now know where the problems are. I always wondered why these senior scientists/professors who are experts in their field are treated the junior scientists that way. I also had the same experience with you Dr. Mustapha Imam, I sent more than 60 e-mails to different experts in the field of bioinformatic but all no reply. 

this topic was quite educating as well, i get it now as to the many possibilities as to why. As umar has testified, i also have experienced such, no reponse by most researchers that i have communicated in time past.