How a finding makes its way out of the discipline.
Practise this list
From these 25 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list
The last entry is la confiance dans la science, and the noun at the end of it has a relative in English that nobody would suspect. La science comes from Latin scientia, knowledge, built on scire, to know; the same verb sits inside la conscience, knowing together with oneself, and inside « prescience », knowing beforehand. Put a negative in front and Latin gave nescius, not knowing, ignorant. That word came down into Old French as nice, simple, foolish, easily fooled, and in that sense it crossed the Channel. Once in English it kept moving: from foolish to fussy, from fussy to precise — the sense still alive in « a nice distinction » and « a nice point of law » — and from precise to pleasant, where it stopped. French went the other way and let the word die; nice survives there only in older dictionaries, marked as out of use. So the two languages split the inheritance. French kept the knowing and dropped the ignorance; English kept both, and turned the ignorance into a compliment. Trust in science, on this reading, is trust in people who are not nice in the oldest sense.
L’enregistrement préalable fixe la question avant les mesures.Preregistration pins down the question before a single measurement is taken.
le facteur d’impactthe impact factorNoun (m)C2
Le facteur d’impact décrit une revue, pas un article.An impact factor is a figure about a journal, not about any one paper in it.
l’indicateur de citationsthe citation metricNoun (m)C2
L’indicateur de citations dépend beaucoup de la discipline.What counts as a high citation metric varies widely from one field to the next.
le résumé en langage courantthe plain-language summaryNoun (m)C2
Le résumé en langage courant est demandé par plusieurs revues.A number of journals now ask authors for a plain-language summary.
l’effet de cadragethe framing effectNoun (m)C2
L’effet de cadrage change la réponse sans changer les chiffres.Through the framing effect, identical figures can draw a different answer.
le dialogue avec le publicdialogue with the publicNoun (m)C2
Le dialogue avec le public commence par une question, pas par un exposé.Real dialogue with the public opens with a question rather than a lecture.
le conseil scientifique aux pouvoirs publicsscientific advice to governmentNoun (m)C2
Le conseil scientifique aux pouvoirs publics s’arrête où la décision commence.Scientific advice to government ends at the point where the decision begins.
le choix sélectif des résultatscherry-pickingNoun (m)C2
Le choix sélectif des résultats se remarque à ce qui manque.Cherry-picking gives itself away through what is missing.
le service de pressethe press officeNoun (m)C2
Le service de presse rédige le communiqué avec les auteurs.The press office drafts the release together with the authors.
l’entretien sous embargothe embargoed briefingNoun (m)C2
L’entretien sous embargo a lieu la veille de la parution.The embargoed briefing is held the day before the paper comes out.
le public non spécialistethe lay audienceNoun (m)C2
Le public non spécialiste pose souvent la meilleure question.A lay audience often asks the sharpest question in the room.
La citation d’expert arrive souvent après la conclusion.The expert quote is often added once the conclusion has already been written.
la revue prédatricethe predatory journalNoun (f)C2
La revue prédatrice publie contre paiement, sans relecture.A predatory journal takes the fee and skips the review.
la fausse symétriefalse balanceNoun (f)C2
La fausse symétrie met deux positions à égalité sans raison.False balance gives two positions equal weight when nothing justifies it.
la communication de l’incertitudecommunicating uncertaintyNoun (f)C2
La communication de l’incertitude est la partie que le public retient le moins.Of everything in a briefing, the part about uncertainty is what audiences retain least.
la fausse informationmisinformationNoun (f)C2
La fausse information circule plus vite que la correction.Misinformation travels faster than any correction can follow.
l’information préventiveprebunkingNoun (f)C2
L’information préventive explique le procédé avant le cas concret.Prebunking explains the trick before anyone meets a real case of it.
