Journal of Trial and Error

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Utrecht
Journal of Trial and Error

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The Journal of Trial and Error aims to close the gap between what is researched and what is published

Register for the Trial and Error Award Symposium here: https://trialanderror.org/symposium-2025

Donations
https://trialanderror.org/donate

24/09/2025

Big News!
The Journal of Trial and Error is officially listed on the 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 (𝐃𝐎𝐀𝐉)! 🎉

After years of hard work, our mission is now even more accessible to researchers worldwide.

🌟 Find us here: https://doaj.org/toc/2667-1204 🌟

As a reminder - we are open to receiving 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬! Our commitment remains to publish methodologically rigorous research with null results: the so-called ‘failures’ that other journals often overlook. We also publish interesting methodological mistakes that others can learn from.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped us reach this milestone. Let’s keep pushing the boundaries of knowledge! 🙌

18/09/2025

Have you reflected on how to combat widespread misinformation in your community? This recently published article may have just the suggestion!

The reflection refers to the study ‘Gamified Inoculation Against Misinformation in India: A Randomized Control Trial’. The authors of the reflection discuss the gamified ‘inoculation’ game in rural India, designed to help people resist online misinformation; however, the study failed to produce measurable effects. The reflecting authors argue that two key factors explain this outcome:

-Digital barriers: Many participants had limited experience with smartphones or tablets, reducing their ability to engage with a digitally delivered intervention.

-Cultural-historical factors: The article suggests that people who primarily use ‘everyday concepts’ (concrete, experience-based reasoning) may not benefit from interventions that assume ‘logical concept’ thinking fostered by formal schooling.

To overcome these issues, the authors recommend a strategy called Intervention Mapping; a systematic, step-by-step method to adapt interventions to local contexts, ensuring materials, delivery channels, and reasoning styles align with the target population’s culture and education levels. They also emphasize the value of bottom-up, community-co-designed interventions over simply translating Western digital strategies.

Read more and explore their method here:
https://journal.trialanderror.org/pub/gamified-inoculation/release/2

12/09/2025

Would you like to support and celebrate yours and other ‘failures’ in science that contribute to the advancement of methodological and sound scientific research?

Curious about what the event includes?
-Guest/Keynote Speakers
-Group exercises, workshops, and icebreakers
-An award ceremony
-Networking, drinks, and more

More is to come in the last weeks leading up to the event. Look out for more updates and announcements regarding the symposium!

You can register on our website here:
https://trialanderror.org/symposium-2025

October 7th, 2025 | 10:00 – 17:30 | University Museum Utrecht | Lange Nieuwstraat 106, Utrecht

10/09/2025

Would you still participate in a study if there was no financial reward?

This study shows how different incentivization strategies—monetary (fixed vs. performance-contingent) and non-monetary (feedback)—affect recruitment, retention, data quality, and participant profiles in Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) studies.

What are the key findings?
-Feedback significantly improved recruitment, reduced dropout rates, and enhanced data quality. It also attracted participants with greater interest in research.
-Fixed vs. performance-based incentives had minimal impact on most outcomes; though performance-contingent payment slightly increased prompt responses, the effect wasn’t statistically strong.

What to make of this?
The study highlights the ethical trade-off: while feedback boosts engagement and data quality, it may introduce selection bias, as it appeals more to those already motivated by the topic.

You can read more here: https://journal.trialanderror.org/pub/incentivization-in-assessments/release/3.

09/09/2025

Scientific journals should not exclusively contain success stories and big breakthroughs, but also need to have a place for ‘failures’. Our Editor-in-chief Sarahanne Field discusses the importance of null results, flawed experiments, and boring outcomes, in an interview with Skepter.

Skepter is a publication that challenges pop-science and offers critical examination of bold claims. The interview (in dutch) can be found here: https://skepsis.nl/skepter-covers/skepter-38-3-2025/

04/09/2025

Did you know that tomorrow, September 5th, is International Day of Charity?

We’re a diamond open-access journal, meaning all of our content is freely available to everyone, including those who submit their work to us. The Journal of Trial and Error and the Journal for Reproducibility in Neuroscience aim to enhance the inclusion of studies with “failed” or null results and replication studies.

Support our mission to remove financial barriers to the dissemination of open-access science and help us keep our research freely available by donating here: https://trialanderror.org/donate

Would you like to contribute to a future initiative and have a suggestion of what that may entail? Feel free to email us at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you!

Above all, we thank you for your consideration, as continuing our journal is only possible with your support.

03/09/2025

New on the Cultures of Trial and Error blog series:

“Engines of Science Correction in the Biosciences—and How They Sometimes Run Out of Steam” by Melpomeni Antonakaki

What happens when scientific communities try to correct themselves - and what drives them to self-correct?

This new piece follows the story of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan, which between 2006 and 2014 grappled with multiple high-profile cases of alleged misconduct. The Society experimented with new ways of doing corrective work, which shaped a turbulent period with independent investigations, public statements, new symposia and bold reforms.

Drawing inspiration from Ian Hacking’s “engines of discovery,” Antonakaki introduces the concept of “engines of science correction”: the social, material, and moral mechanisms that drive communities to acknowledge harm, seek accountability, and attempt repair. Yet as the case shows, these engines can stall, leaving institutions to question whether their efforts to regulate themselves were sustainable.

Read the article here: https://blog.trialanderror.org/engines-of-science-correction-in-the-biosciences-and-how-they-sometimes-run-out-of-steam

Presented by JOTE and the NanoBubbles project.

03/09/2025

Did you hear? Proposal submissions for our Special Issue on the Role of Failure and Uncertainty in Open Education remain open!

Do you have an idea for a paper on how to better foster openness in education? Or have experience with failure and uncertainty in education? Then share your work and submit a proposal for our Special Issue!

Read more, including examples of potential contribution topics, and submit your proposal via https://journal.trialanderror.org/pub/call-failure-open-education/release/2 before September 30th, 2025, at 17:00 (CET).

Should you have a particularly busy period in the next month or so but would like to contribute to this special issue, please reach out to us at [email protected].

28/08/2025

Good news - we have extended the deadline for proposal submissions for our Special Issue on the Role of Failure and Uncertainty in Open Education!

We welcome papers that are theoretical, empirical, and conceptual as long as they explore open education as a space of negotiation, reinvention, and continuous adaptation. Moreover, we seek contributions that reflect on what is necessary to foster a truly open academic culture that enables researchers and educators to share their trials, struggles, and unexpected findings.

We look forward to receiving works that challenge traditional notions of success and failure in education, as well as studies that examine how open education can act as a vehicle for rethinking knowledge production, assessment, and learning in an increasingly uncertain world.

Read more and submit your proposal via https://journal.trialanderror.org/pub/call-failure-open-education/release/2 before September 30th, 2025, at 17:00 (CET).

Should you have a particularly busy period in the next month or so but would like to contribute to this special issue, please reach out to us at [email protected].

26/08/2025

We recently published an article by Moin Syed that examines and reveals gaps in how editors and reviewers check preregistration during the review process.

The author addresses that the rise in preregistration used to document study design has been subject to barriers in implementation. Preregistrations merely indicate the researcher’s plan, which may or may not be realised given discrepancies between preregistration plans and final reporting. While this does not immediately indicate malpractice, the principle of transparency should be continuous throughout a given study.

This study highlights one of those barriers, a practice that may be non-existent or undervalued. Preregistration reduces the chances of questionable research practices. However, does it work, or is it being used properly?

What are the results?
In 43% of the set of articles retrieved from the PLOS, at least one editor/reviewer mentioned the preregistration. However, only 18% of editors/reviewers went on to mention this in their review, much lower than previous self-reported studies.

Interested in seeing what the inclusion/exclusion criteria may be or want to learn more about the qualms of characterization of these practices?

Read more here:
https://journal.trialanderror.org/pub/check-preregistrations/release/2

22/08/2025

The last week is approaching for submission in our Special Issue on the Role of Failure and Uncertainty in Open Education!

This recent initiative of the Journal of Trial and Error is underway; however, we look forward to receiving your work! Developed in collaboration with De Nieuwe Utrechtse School, this special issue is focused on open education as an evolving, trial-and-error-based process. We are still accepting contributions to be considered for this issue.

Do you have insights or existing (completed) research that would fit this special issue? Or do you know anyone who does? We encourage new submissions as well as submissions of articles that have been previously written but never published!

Read more and submit your proposal via https://journal.trialanderror.org/pub/call-failure-open-education/release/1 before August 31st, 2025, at 17:00 (CET).

20/08/2025

Check out this article written in Science.

AI is transforming chemistry and drug discovery, as shown by this new “computational microscope.” NeuralPLexer demonstrates how far we can go when models account for evolutionary constraints and binding-induced conformational changes. Yet even the most advanced algorithms depend on the accuracy of their training data. If the published record is biased toward fast, high-yield reactions, predictions will inevitably lean too optimistic.

That is where the Journal of Trial and Error comes in. By publishing null, negative, and unexpected results, we provide the missing "disappointing" data that computational platforms require for accuracy. A culture of open reporting across successes and failures strengthens both experimental and computational science. As publishing norms evolve, we expect more reliable predictions, less wasted lab work, and ultimately faster discovery.

Read about NeuralPLexer here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adx7802

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