Trust Indicator

In the interest of transparency, trust, and critical self-reflection, when I share a scientific paper, I find it important to communicate two pieces of information:

• How deeply I have read the paper
• The proximity between my scientific knowledge and the research question of the paper

I use an indicator to simply communicate these two pieces of information.

The indicator has two dimensions: reading depth and scientific proximity. Each dimension has three levels. Each level has a numerical value:

• 1/3 for the lowest level
• 2/3 for the intermediate level
• 3/3 for the highest level

I evaluate the scientific proximity as it is at the time of reading. My scientific proximity to a given scientific literature can evolve over time, depending on how frequently I monitor said literature.

I introduced a first version (in French) of the trust indicator on October 27, 2022. The previous version was more detailed and more complex to communicate. The current version dates from December 2023.

Reading depth

• Superficial reading (1/3)
  • I have read the abstract of the paper
• Partial reading (2/3)
  • I have read the introduction of the paper
• Full reading (3/3)
  • I have read the entire paper

Scientific proximity

• Low scientific proximity (1/3)
  • For example: the paper is about a research question or comes from a scientific discipline that I do not know well
• Average scientific proximity (2/3)
  • For example: the paper is about a scientific literature that I superficially know
• Strong scientific proximity (3/3)
  • For example: the paper is about my PhD thesis topic, or about a scientific literature that I regularly read