ArticleAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences2023
Razor sharp: The role of Occam's razor in science.
Article in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Revisiting the post-resolution positivity effect in conflict tasks: Meta-analytic and behavioral evidence for context-dependent affective valence of conflict resolution.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2026Pooled it
- Baseline Dynamics and Sleep Loss-Driven Changes of Electrocorticographic Aperiodic Properties Are Altered in Mice Lacking Neuroligin-2.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Article
- Trans-dimensional Bayesian model averaging for 13C-metabolic flux analysis: evidence-based flux inference under structural model uncertainty.Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Mechanisms of Red-Shifted Absorption in Biliverdin-Binding Proteins.Biochemistry · 2026Article
- Scientists' Warning to Humanity: Unnecessary Bureaucracy Is a Global Impediment to Productivity, Advancement of Human and Planetary Wellbeing, Science and Sustainability.Microbial biotechnology · 2026Article
- Oral Ketamine for Treatment-refractory Major Depressive Disorder and the Complicating Role of Concurrent Stressors: Implications for Research and Practice.Indian journal of psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Androecium homologies in eight-staminate maples: a developmental study.Journal of plant research · 2025Article
- Evaluating the Role of Susceptibility Inducing Cofactors and of Acetaminophen in the Etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Razor sharp: The role of Occam's razor in science.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2023Article
- The Vanishing Colorectal Tumor: Lessons from an Illustrative Case Report.GE Portuguese journal of gastroenterologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
Occam's razor-the principle of simplicity-has recently been attacked as a cultural bias without rational foundation. Increasingly, belief in pseudoscience and mysticism is growing. I argue that inclusion of Occam's razor is an essential factor that distinguishes science from superstition and pseudoscience. I also describe how the razor is embedded in Bayesian inference and argue that science is primarily the means to discover the simplest descriptions of our world.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.