Opinion

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January 26, 2026

Stop Formatting Before the Desk Reject: A Proposal for Staged Submissions

Many flagship journals reject most manuscripts at the desk-review stage, with rates of 40–80% being common

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science

March 30, 2025

Breaking Bubbles: Art and Science in a Fractured World

In an age where trust in science, facts, and authority is rapidly eroding, art may offer a surprising way forward.

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October 29, 2024

Let’s Focus on Learning From Mistakes Not on Avoiding Mistakes

Do we truly want to focus so much on eradicating mistakes, and are we trying to train a generation of reliable ‘robots’?

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October 06, 2023

Sex Differences and Clinical Research: a Reflection on Communicating About Values in Science

Philosophers teach us that science is drenched in values, but what does this mean for science communication? Editor Marcel reflects on what values mean for his earlier work on clinical trials.

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April 26, 2023

Evaluative Measures or Game-Able Targets? Academic Competition Can Turn Even Qualitative Measures into Targets for Researchers

Although the global switch from quantitative to qualitative evaluation measures is certainly necessary, without lowering academic competition they too might become game-able targets.

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February 27, 2023

How 'Recognition and Rewards' in Dutch Academia Turned Metrics into Incentives

In recent attempts to reform research assesment, metrics have explicitly become “incentives”. Yet, the Dutch debate about this transition focussed on the wrong elements.

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December 02, 2022

Not All That Shines Is Diamond: Why Open Access Publication Favors Rich Authors, Prestigious Universities and Industry-Funded Research

More and more researchers pay processing costs for publishing in Open Access, but these costs disadvantage authors who are female, early in their career or, from low-income countries.

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October 28, 2022

Can Direct Replications Save Psychology From Its Conceptual and Measurement Issues?

Science reformers suggest direct replications as a solution to the replication crisis, but they might not be able to deal with the conceptual and measurement issues that underlie the crisis.

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September 10, 2021

Who Is to Blame When We Fly Too Close to the Sun – Academia or the Individual?

We should beware of using Ariely and others as scapegoats. Rather than dwelling on the moral failings of individual researchers, we might reframe fraud and misconduct as a systemic problem.

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psychology

March 25, 2020

The Four Horsemen of the Crisis in Psychological Science

Psychological science is in a crisis, and has been for quite some time.

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open science

December 18, 2019

Wetenschap, Wees Eens Eerlijk Over Jezelf!

Vorige week presenteerde minister Van Engelshoven haar langverwachte ‘Strategische Agenda voor het hoger onderwijs en onderzoek’.