Stefan Gaillard and Martijn van der Meer listed in the Forbes 30 under 30 list

Stefan Gaillard and Martijn van der Meer have been listed in the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Science and Healthcare in Europe, in recognition of co-founding the Journal of Trial and Error.

The Journal of Trial and Error was established in 2018 by Stefan and Martijn, together with fellow students of the History and Philosophy of Science master programme at the UU. The independent diamond open-access journal redefines failure and rethinks scientific success – and currently has four issues published and a readership of 16,000+ people.

Closing the Gap

Science doesn't always involve discovery - sometimes it involves failure. More so, trial and error is a fundamental process of learning and discovery. The Journal of Trial and Error aims to close the gap between what is researched and what is published. Researchers are encouraged to publish ‘’failing’’ results, as those can actually be very useful for other scientists - if only to prevent other researchers from making the same mistake again.

The journal addresses several fundamental issues in modern academia, including publication bias and the replication crisis, but also the academic reward system, with its strong focus on ‘success’, even though failure is an indispensable part of science. It helps to promote more realistic expectations of science, both within academia and outside it. Finally, the journal also contributes to the development of Open Science, by encouraging transparency in all aspects of research, review and publication.

I am very happy that the journal is getting the recognition it deserves. Hopefully this will further contribute to addressing the still pervasive positive publication bias in science. – Stefan Gaillard, co-founder & chair JOTE journal

Recognition

The annual Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list recognizes outstanding and notable young entrepreneurs, leaders and influencers in various fields.

The journal themselves shared the news of the ranking on their LinkedIn noting that, ‘’As a journal that aims to rethink scientific success, we could wonder what these kind of rankings mean and whether they are contributive to science or not. But nevertheless: we are very glad and proud that they have been selected!’’

It is an incredible recognition of the work of these young scholars and all of the support that the Journal has garnered in our local community here at Utrecht University, says Maura Burke, member of the board of the journal and past editor in chief.

According to the co-founders and contributors, the journal could not have been made possible without the support and guidance from the Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities and the History and Philosophy of Science staff.

‘’Many thanks to the History and Philosophy of Science program and the Descartes Center, without whom we would never have gotten the journal up and running. Their help was invaluable. Especially thanks to David Baneke, Hieke Huistra and Bert Theunissen.’’