Scientific community
The collective of researchers, institutions, and professional networks that produce, evaluate, communicate, and apply scientific knowledge.
Peer review: Evaluation of scholarly work by specialists before or after publication. It subjects research claims and methods to scrutiny by other members of the community.
Research institution: An organization that conducts, supports, or coordinates systematic research. Institutions supply the staff, facilities, and governance through which much community research operates.
Mertonian norms: Robert K. Merton’s proposed norms governing scientific conduct: communalism, universalism, disinterestedness, and organized skepticism. These norms describe ideals against which scientific institutions and conduct are often assessed.
Scientific authority: Credibility granted to scientific claims or speakers because of recognized expertise and evidence. Authority can inform judgment, but community scrutiny is not reducible to credentials.
Research misconduct: Fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, conducting, or reporting research. Misconduct challenges the community’s systems for detecting and correcting unreliable work.
Scientific method: A set of practices for developing, testing, and revising explanations through empirical inquiry. Shared standards of testing make results assessable across research groups.
Scientific discipline: A recognized field of study with characteristic questions, methods, and professional communities. Disciplines organize expertise and shape which questions and methods researchers share.
Matthew effect: The tendency for recognition and resources to accumulate disproportionately around already prominent people or institutions. It shows how credit and opportunity can concentrate within scientific networks.
Demarcation problem: The philosophical problem of distinguishing science from non-science and pseudoscience. Its boundaries concern which practices and claims a scientific community accepts as scientific.
Scientific integrity: Adherence to ethical and professional standards in the conduct and reporting of research. Maintaining integrity requires institutions to align incentives with responsible practice.