Philosophy of science

Die Stringenz looks like English « stringency » and praises something else. « Stringency » is strictness imposed from outside: stringent rules, stringent safety standards, a stringent budget. In German the word belongs above all to an argument and describes how it hangs together — each step following compellingly from the one before, nothing left to goodwill. Die Stringenz des Beweises is the rigour of a proof; eine stringente Argumentation is tightly reasoned, not harsh. For strict rules and demanding standards German reaches for streng: strenge Auflagen, strenge Kriterien, die Strenge. So a reviewer who finds a paper lacking in Stringenz is not asking for tougher methods but for a line of reasoning with no gap in it — the kind that leaves no room for eine Immunisierungsstrategie.