Researchers are human: Implications for Open Science and the Scientific Record

People are excellent at pattern-seeking. We also love stories, solve problems in similar ways and have porous memories. Some people are also researchers. What do these characteristics mean for the creation of a scientific record that can be understood and used long after our atoms have been returned to the cosmos? In this talk, I will discuss a model of open scientific documentation that centers the constraints of human cognition. By returning to first principles about the purpose of publishing papers, i.e. the creation of a usable and reliable scientific record, I will describe how by acknowledging our very human minds, and working within their structures, we can drastically improve how well we understand and produce scientific information. On August 20th, 2025 Dr. Monica Gonzalez-Marquez, Visiting Scholar from the RWTH Aachen University spoke at the ZPID Colloquium. Am 20. August 2025 sprach Dr. Monica Gonzalez-Marquez, Visiting Scholar an der RWTH Aachen University, im ZPID-Kolloquium. unknown