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98-513: Parapsychology research rarely appears in mainstream scientific journals ; a few niche journals publish most papers about parapsychology. The term parapsychology was coined in 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir as the German parapsychologie . It was adopted by J. B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research to indicate a significant shift toward experimental methodology and academic discipline. The term originates from

196-485: A bibliography ). They also deal with research, and are peer reviewed. Meanwhile, trade journals are aimed at people in different fields, focusing on how people in these fields can do their jobs better. They additionally cover information related to work, and include tips and advice for improving performance, but they are not scholarly. Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as students, researchers, and professors. Their intended audience

294-492: A special deck of cards designed for this purpose. A percentage of correct guesses (or hits) significantly above 20% was perceived as higher than chance and indicative of psychic ability. Rhine stated in his first book, Extrasensory Perception (1934), that after 90,000 trials, he felt ESP is "an actual and demonstrable occurrence". Irish medium and parapsychologist Eileen J. Garrett was tested by Rhine at Duke University in 1933 with Zener cards. Rhine placed certain symbols on

392-753: A 1942 article published in the British Journal of Psychology . The Parapsychological Association divides psi into two main categories: psi-gamma for extrasensory perception and psi-kappa for psychokinesis. In popular culture, "psi" has become more and more synonymous with extraordinary psychic , mental , and " psionic " abilities and powers. In 1853, chemist Robert Hare conducted experiments with mediums and reported positive results. Other researchers such as Frank Podmore highlighted flaws in his experiments, such as lack of controls to prevent trickery. Agenor de Gasparin conducted early experiments into table-tipping . For five months in 1853, he declared

490-669: A certain way. Not only can dice be drilled, shaved, falsely numbered and manipulated, but even straight dice often show bias in the long run. Casinos for this reason retire dice often, but at Duke, subjects continued to try for the same effect on the same dice over long experimental runs. Not surprisingly, PK appeared at Duke and nowhere else. Parapsychologists and skeptics criticized the Ownbey-Zirkle ESP experiment at Duke. Ownbey would attempt to send ESP symbols to Zirkle, who would guess what they were. The pair were placed in adjacent rooms, unable to see each other, and an electric fan

588-432: A discussion of similar research. The materials and methods or experimental section provides specific details of how the research was conducted. The results and discussion section describes the outcome and implications of the research, and the conclusion section places the research in context and describes avenues for further exploration. In addition to the above, some scientific journals such as Science will include

686-473: A dozen ways a subject who wished to cheat under the conditions Rhine described could deceive the investigator". When Rhine took precautions in response to criticisms of his methods, he failed to find any high-scoring subjects. Another criticism, made by chemist Irving Langmuir , among others, was one of selective reporting . Langmuir stated that Rhine did not report scores of subjects that he suspected were intentionally guessing wrong and that this, he felt, biased

784-423: A gradual move towards a license to publish instead. Under such a system, the publisher has permission to edit, print, and distribute the article commercially, but the authors retain the other rights themselves. Even if they retain the copyright to an article, most journals allow certain rights to their authors. These rights usually include the ability to reuse parts of the paper in the author's future work, and allow

882-545: A group of scientists in Cambridge. J. M. Peirce and E. C. Pickering reported a similar experiment in which they tested 36 subjects over 23,384 trials, which did not obtain above-chance scores. In 1881, Eleanor Sidgwick revealed the fraudulent methods that spirit photographers such as Édouard Isidore Buguet , Frederic Hudson , and William H. Mumler had utilized. During the late nineteenth century, many fraudulent mediums were exposed by SPR investigators. Largely due to

980-415: A journal uses to determine publication can vary widely. Some journals, such as Nature , Science , PNAS , and Physical Review Letters , have a reputation of publishing articles that mark a fundamental breakthrough in their respective fields. In many fields, a formal or informal hierarchy of scientific journals exists; the most prestigious journal in a field tends to be the most selective in terms of

1078-504: A multitude of scientific disciplines. Unlike professional or trade magazines , scientific journals are characterized by their rigorous peer review process, which aims to ensure the validity , reliability , and quality of the published content. With origins dating back to the 17th century , the publication of scientific journals has evolved significantly, playing a pivotal role in the advancement of scientific knowledge, fostering academic discourse, and facilitating collaboration within

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1176-462: A news section where scientific developments (often involving political issues) are described. These articles are often written by science journalists and not by scientists . In addition, some journals will include an editorial section and a section for letters to the editor. While these are articles published within a journal, in general they are not regarded as scientific journal articles because they have not been peer-reviewed. Electronic publishing

1274-408: A scientific article is citation of earlier work. The impact of articles and journals is often assessed by counting citations ( citation impact ). Some classes are partially devoted to the explication of classic articles, and seminar classes can consist of the presentation by each student of a classic or current paper. Schoolbooks and textbooks have been written usually only on established topics, while

1372-530: A scientific understanding of those abilities and sensitivities that appear to transcend the ordinary limits of space and time". The Parapsychological Association (PA) was created in Durham, North Carolina , on June 19, 1957. J. B. Rhine proposed its formation at a parapsychology workshop held at the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University. Rhine proposed that the group form itself into

1470-453: A trick, so they could not supply evidence for ESP. In 1957, Rhine and Joseph Gaither Pratt wrote Parapsychology: Frontier Science of the Mind . Because of the methodological problems, parapsychologists no longer utilize card-guessing studies. Rhine's experiments into psychokinesis (PK) were also criticized. John Sladek wrote: His research used dice, with subjects 'willing' them to fall

1568-426: A year. In general, this money is used to fund the activities of the scientific societies that run such journals, or is invested in providing further scholarly resources for scientists; thus, the money remains in and benefits the scientific sphere. Despite the transition to electronic publishing, the serials crisis persists. Concerns about cost and open access have led to the creation of free-access journals such as

1666-403: Is a new area of information dissemination . One definition of electronic publishing is in the context of the scientific journal. It is the presentation of scholarly scientific results in only an electronic (non-paper) form. This is from its first write-up, or creation, to its publication or dissemination. The electronic scientific journal is specifically designed to be presented on the internet. It

1764-400: Is a technique used to test individuals for telepathy. The technique—a form of moderate sensory deprivation —was developed to quickly quiet mental "noise" by providing mild, unpatterned stimuli to the visual and auditory senses. The visual sense is usually isolated by creating a soft red glow which is diffused through half ping-pong balls placed over the recipient's eyes. The auditory sense

1862-405: Is defined as not being previously printed material adapted, or retooled, and then delivered electronically. Electronic publishing will likely continue to exist alongside paper publishing for the foreseeable future, since whilst output to a screen is important for browsing and searching, it is not well suited for extensive reading. Formats suitable both for reading on paper, and for manipulation by

1960-428: Is due either to uncontrollable factors in experimental procedure or to the difference in the subjects." Four other psychological departments failed to replicate Rhine's results. After thousands of card runs, James Charles Crumbaugh failed to duplicate the results of Rhine. In 1938, the psychologist Joseph Jastrow wrote that much of the evidence for extrasensory perception collected by Rhine and other parapsychologists

2058-512: Is now known that each experiment contained serious flaws that escaped notice in the examination made by the authors of Extra-Sensory Perception After Sixty Years ". Joseph Gaither Pratt was the co-experimenter in the Pearce-Pratt and Pratt-Woodruff experiments at the Duke campus. Hansel visited the campus where the experiments took place and discovered the results could have originated through

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2156-504: Is others in the field (such as students and experts), meaning their content is more advanced and sophisticated than what is found regular publications. They have different purposes, depending on the type. Articles with original research are meant to share it with others in the field, review articles give summaries of research that has already been done, and perspective articles give researchers' views on research that their peers performed. Each article has several different sections, including

2254-736: Is therefore judged implicitly by the quality of the procedures reported and agreement with the data provided. However, some journals in the field of chemistry such as Inorganic Syntheses and Organic Syntheses require independent reproduction of the results presented as part of the review process. The inability for independent researches to reproduce published results is widespread, with 70% of researchers reporting failure to reproduce another scientist's results, including more than half who report failing to reproduce their own experiments. Sources of irreproducibility vary, including publication of falsified or misrepresented data and poor detailing of procedures. There are several types of journal article;

2352-750: Is thought that this approach could account for the relative strength of parapsychology in Britain. As of 2007, parapsychology was researched in some 30 countries, and some universities worldwide continue academic parapsychology programs. Among these are the Koestler Parapsychology Unit at the University of Edinburgh ; the Parapsychology Research Group at Liverpool Hope University (this closed in April 2011);

2450-471: Is usually blocked by playing white noise , static, or similar sounds to the recipient. The subject is also seated in a reclined, comfortable position to minimize the sense of touch. In the typical Ganzfeld experiment, a "sender" and a "receiver" are isolated. The receiver is put into the Ganzfeld state, or Ganzfeld effect and the sender is shown a video clip or still picture and asked to send that image to

2548-403: Is wanted, such as physics , the role of the journal at disseminating the latest research has largely been replaced by preprint databases such as arXiv.org . Almost all such articles are eventually published in traditional journals, which still provide an important role in quality control , archiving papers, and establishing scientific credit. Many scientists and librarians have long protested

2646-687: The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general scientific society in the world. In 1979, physicist John A. Wheeler said that parapsychology is pseudoscientific and that the affiliation of the PA to the AAAS needed to be reconsidered. His challenge to parapsychology's AAAS affiliation was unsuccessful. Today, the PA consists of about three hundred full, associate, and affiliated members worldwide. Beginning in

2744-598: The Greek : παρά para meaning "alongside", and psychology . In parapsychology, psi is the unknown factor in extrasensory perception and psychokinesis experiences that is not explained by known physical or biological mechanisms. The term is derived from ψ psi, the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet and the initial letter of the Greek: ψυχή psyche , "mind, soul". The term was coined by biologist Bertold Wiesner , and first used by psychologist Robert Thouless in

2842-672: The International Journal of Parapsychology (between 1959 and 1968 and 2000–2001) and the Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research, publisher of the Australian Journal of Parapsychology . The European Journal of Parapsychology ceased publishing in 2010. Parapsychological research has also included other sub-disciplines of psychology. These related fields include transpersonal psychology , which studies transcendent or spiritual aspects of

2940-637: The Public Library of Science (PLoS) family and partly open or reduced-cost journals such as the Journal of High Energy Physics . However, professional editors still have to be paid, and PLoS still relies heavily on donations from foundations to cover the majority of its operating costs; smaller journals do not often have access to such resources. Based on statistical arguments, it has been shown that electronic publishing online, and to some extent open access , both provide wider dissemination and increase

3038-749: The Royal Society (1660) and the French Academy of Sciences (1666). In 1665, the French Journal des sçavans and the English Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society began systematically publishing research results. Over a thousand, mostly ephemeral , were founded in the 18th century, and the number has increased rapidly since then. Peer review did not begin until the 1970s, and

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3136-876: The Society for Psychical Research , publisher of the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research and Psi Encyclopedia ; the American Society for Psychical Research , publisher of the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research (last published in 2004); the Rhine Research Center and Institute for Parapsychology, publisher of the Journal of Parapsychology ; the Parapsychology Foundation, which published

3234-532: The World Wide Web via hyperlinks that are created 'on-the-fly'. The PDF version of an article is usually seen as the version of record , but the matter is subject to some debate. Electronic counterparts of established print journals already promote and deliver rapid dissemination of peer-reviewed and edited, "published" articles. Other journals, whether spin-offs of established print journals, or created as electronic only, have come into existence promoting

3332-510: The 12 flaws. Because of the flaws, Honorton agreed with Hyman the 42 Ganzfeld studies could not support the claim for the existence of psi. Scientific journal In academic publishing , a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, scholars, and scientists to share their latest discoveries, insights, and methodologies across

3430-533: The 1880s, the Society investigated apparitional experiences and hallucinations in the sane . Among the first important works was the two-volume publication in 1886, Phantasms of the Living , which was largely criticized by scholars. In 1894, the Census of Hallucinations was published which sampled 17,000 people. Out of these, 1,684 persons admitted to having experienced a hallucination of an apparition. The SPR became

3528-517: The 1970s, and the second edition of his Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation was published in 1974. Psychologist Thelma Moss studied Kirlian photography at UCLA 's parapsychology laboratory. The influx of spiritual teachers from Asia and their claims of abilities produced by meditation led to research on altered states of consciousness . American Society for Psychical Research Director of Research, Karlis Osis , conducted experiments in out of body experiences. Physicist Russell Targ coined

3626-539: The 1980s, contemporary parapsychological research has waned considerably in the United States. Early research was considered inconclusive, and parapsychologists faced strong skepticism from their academic colleagues. Some effects thought to be paranormal, for example, the effects of Kirlian photography (thought by some to represent a human aura ), disappeared under more stringent controls, leaving those avenues of research at dead-ends. Most parapsychology research in

3724-410: The 42 Ganzfeld experiments, and to assess each experiment, he devised a set of 12 categories of flaws. Six of these concerned statistical defects, and the other six covered procedural flaws such as inadequate documentation , randomization, security, and possibilities of sensory leakage. Over half of the studies failed to safeguard against sensory leakage , and all of the studies contained at least one of

3822-1016: The Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine (1970), the Institute of Parascience (1971), the Academy of Religion and Psychical Research, the Institute of Noetic Sciences (1973), the International Kirlian Research Association (1975), and the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory (1979). Parapsychological work was also conducted at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) during this time. The scope of parapsychology expanded during these years. Psychiatrist Ian Stevenson conducted much of his research into reincarnation during

3920-588: The Parapsychological Association, parapsychologists do not study all paranormal phenomena, nor are they concerned with astrology , UFOs , cryptozoology , paganism , vampires , alchemy , or witchcraft . Journals dealing with parapsychology include the Journal of Parapsychology , Journal of Near-Death Studies , Journal of Consciousness Studies , Journal of the Society for Psychical Research , and Journal of Scientific Exploration . The Ganzfeld ( German for "whole field")

4018-827: The SOPHIA Project at the University of Arizona ; the Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology Research Unit of Liverpool John Moores University ; the Center for the Study of Anomalous Psychological Processes at the University of Northampton ; and the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London . Research and professional organizations include the Parapsychological Association ;

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4116-401: The Society included, in addition to Richet, Eleanor Sidgwick and William James , and subsequently Nobel Laureates Henri Bergson and Lord Rayleigh , and philosopher C. D. Broad . Areas of study included telepathy , hypnotism , Reichenbach's phenomena , apparitions , hauntings , and the physical aspects of Spiritualism such as table-tilting , materialization , and apportation . In

4214-526: The US is now confined to private institutions funded by private sources. After 28 years of research, Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory (PEAR), which studied psychokinesis , closed in 2007. Two universities in the United States have academic parapsychology laboratories. The Division of Perceptual Studies, a unit at the University of Virginia 's Department of Psychiatric Medicine, studies

4312-488: The academic and research careers of scientists. They are instrumental in keeping researchers informed about the latest developments in their field, supporting the integrity of research through reproducibility and replicability, and influencing the direction of future research endeavors. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, with one estimate from 2012 indicating that there were 28,100 that were active, and many more have been published at various points in

4410-403: The academic landscape. The advent of electronic publishing has further expanded the reach and accessibility of scientific journals, enabling more efficient dissemination and retrieval of information, while also addressing challenges related to cost and copyright . Scientific journals not only contribute to the dissemination and archival of scientific knowledge but also play a critical role in

4508-536: The approaches of psychical research, which generally sought qualitative evidence for paranormal phenomena, the experiments at Duke University proffered a quantitative , statistical approach using cards and dice. As a consequence of the ESP experiments at Duke, standard laboratory procedures for the testing of ESP were developed and adopted by interested researchers worldwide. George Estabrooks conducted an ESP experiment using cards in 1927. Harvard students were used as

4606-433: The articles it will select for publication, and usually will also have the highest impact factor . In some countries, journal rankings can be utilized for funding decisions and even evaluation of individual researchers, although they are poorly suited for that purpose. For scientific journals, reproducibility and replicability of the scientific results are core concepts that allow other scientists to check and reproduce

4704-507: The author to distribute a limited number of copies. In the print format, such copies are called reprints; in the electronic format, they are called postprints . Some publishers, for example the American Physical Society , also grant the author the right to post and update the article on the author's or employer's website and on free e-print servers, to grant permission to others to use or reuse figures, and even to reprint

4802-416: The authors are unpaid and receive no compensation from the journal. However, their funding bodies may require them to publish in scientific journals. The paper is submitted to the journal office, where the editor considers the paper for appropriateness, potential scientific impact and novelty. If the journal's editor considers the paper appropriate, the paper is submitted to scholarly peer review . Depending on

4900-440: The average number of citations an article receives. Traditionally, the author of an article was required to transfer the copyright to the journal publisher. Publishers claimed this was necessary in order to protect authors' rights, and to coordinate permissions for reprints or other use. However, many authors, especially those active in the open access movement, found this unsatisfactory, and have used their influence to effect

4998-541: The card. Ten runs with ESP packs of cards were used, and she achieved 93 hits (43 more than chance). Weaknesses with the experiment were later discovered. The duration of the light signal could be varied so that the subject could call for specific symbols. Certain symbols in the experiment appeared far more often than others, indicating poor shuffling or card manipulation. The experiment was not repeated. Duke's administration grew less sympathetic to parapsychology, and after Rhine's retirement in 1965, parapsychological links with

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5096-678: The cards, sealed them in an envelope, and asked Garrett to guess their contents. She performed poorly and later criticized the tests by claiming the cards lacked a psychic energy called "energy stimulus" and that she could not perform clairvoyance to order. The parapsychologist Samuel Soal and his colleagues tested Garrett in May 1937. Soal conducted most experiments in the Psychological Laboratory at University College London . Soal recorded over 12,000 guesses, but Garrett failed to produce above chance level. In his report Soal wrote "In

5194-421: The case of Mrs. Eileen Garrett we fail to find the slightest confirmation of J. B. Rhine's remarkable claims relating to her alleged powers of extra-sensory perception. Not only did she fail when I took charge of the experiments, but she failed equally when four other carefully trained experimenters took my place." The parapsychology experiments at Duke evoked much criticism from academics and others who challenged

5292-474: The concepts and evidence of ESP. Many psychological departments attempted to repeat Rhine's experiments with failure. W. S. Cox (1936) from Princeton University , with 132 subjects, produced 25,064 trials in a playing card ESP experiment. Cox concluded, "There is no evidence of extrasensory perception either in the 'average man' or of the group investigated or in any particular individual of that group. The discrepancy between these results and those obtained by Rhine

5390-466: The cost for a print subscription, although this may reflect the number of people who will be using the license—while a print subscription is the cost for one person to receive the journal; a site-license can allow thousands of people to gain access. Publications by scholarly societies , also known as not-for-profit-publishers, usually cost less than commercial publishers, but the prices of their scientific journals are still usually several thousand dollars

5488-399: The cost of journals, especially as they see these payments going to large for-profit publishing houses. To allow their researchers online access to journals, many universities purchase site licenses , permitting access from anywhere in the university, and, with appropriate authorization, by university-affiliated users at home or elsewhere. These may be quite expensive, sometimes much more than

5586-407: The data discussed supports the conclusion offered and the implications suggested. Novelty is also key: existing work must be appropriately considered and referenced, and new results improving on the state of the art presented. Reviewers are usually unpaid and not a part of the journal staff—instead, they should be "peers", i.e. researchers in the same field as the paper in question. The standards that

5684-549: The early 1950s, the CIA started extensive research into behavioral engineering . The findings from these experiments led to the formation of the Stargate Project , which handled ESP research for the U.S. federal government. The Stargate Project was terminated in 1995 with the conclusion that it was never useful in any intelligence operation. The information was vague and included a lot of irrelevant and erroneous data. There

5782-491: The exact terminology and definitions vary by field and specific journal, but often include: The formats of journal articles vary, but many follow the general IMRAD scheme recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors . Such articles begin with an abstract , which is a one-to-four-paragraph summary of the paper. The introduction describes the background for the research including

5880-438: The experiment or calculation to verify the results, or so that they could evaluate whatever the research article's findings were. Each such journal article also becomes part of the permanent scientific record. Articles in scientific journals can be used in research and higher education. Scientific articles allow researchers to keep up to date with the developments of their field and direct their own research. An essential part of

5978-714: The experimenter; nobody controlled the experiment, so Ownbey could have cheated by communicating with Zirkle or made recording mistakes. The Turner-Ownbey long-distance telepathy experiment was also flawed. May Frances Turner positioned herself in the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory, while Sara Ownbey claimed to receive transmissions 250 miles away. For the experiment, Turner would think of a symbol and write it down, while Ownbey would write her guesses. The scores were highly successful and both records were supposed to be sent to J. B. Rhine, however, Ownbey sent them to Turner. Critics pointed out this invalidated

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6076-417: The experiments a success, being the result of an " ectenic force ". Critics noted that the conditions were insufficient to prevent trickery. For example, the sitters may have moved the table with their knees, and no experimenter was simultaneously watching above and below the table. The German astrophysicist Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner tested the medium Henry Slade in 1877. According to Zöllner, some of

6174-654: The experiments were successful. However, flaws in the experiments were discovered, and critics have suggested that Slade was a fraud who performed trickery in the experiments. The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) was founded in London in 1882. Its formation was the first systematic effort to organize scientists and scholars to investigate paranormal phenomena. Early membership included philosophers , scholars, scientists, educators and politicians , such as Henry Sidgwick , Arthur Balfour , William Crookes , Rufus Osgood Mason , and Nobel Laureate Charles Richet . Presidents of

6272-452: The field and advanced students. In some subjects this is inevitable given the nature of the content. Usually, rigorous rules of scientific writing are enforced by the editors; however, these rules may vary from journal to journal, especially between journals from different publishers. Articles are usually either original articles reporting completely new results or reviews of current literature. There are also scientific publications that bridge

6370-419: The field, journal and paper, the paper is sent to 1–3 reviewers for evaluation before they can be granted permission to publish. Reviewers are expected to check the paper for soundness of its scientific argument, including whether the author(s) are sufficiently acquainted with recent relevant research that bears on their study, whether the data was collected or considered appropriately and reproducibly, and whether

6468-461: The first academic institution in the United States to study extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK) in a laboratory setting. The effort was headed by psychologist John Edgar Coover and funded by Thomas Welton Stanford , brother of the university's founder. After conducting approximately 10,000 experiments, Coover concluded that "statistical treatments of the data fail to reveal any cause beyond chance." In 1930, Duke University became

6566-399: The following: Scientific journal articles are not usually read casually like a person would read a magazine. Whereas magazine articles can be read in a more casual manner, reading an article in a scientific periodical requires a lot more concentration. Reading an article in a scientific journal usually entails first reading the title, to see if it was related to the desired topic. If it was,

6664-502: The gap between articles and books by publishing thematic volumes of chapters from different authors. Many journals have a regional focus, specializing in publishing papers from a particular geographic region, like African Invertebrates . In the 17th century, scientists wrote letters to each other, and included scientific ideas with them. Then, in the mid-17th century, scientists began to hold meetings and share their scientific ideas. Eventually, they led to starting organizations, such as

6762-399: The human mind, and anomalistic psychology , which examines paranormal beliefs and subjective anomalous experiences in traditional psychological terms. Parapsychologists study some ostensible paranormal phenomena, including but not limited to: The definitions for the terms above may not reflect their mainstream usage nor the opinions of all parapsychologists and their critics. According to

6860-661: The last two decades, some new sources of funding for parapsychology in Europe have seen a "substantial increase in European parapsychological research so that the center of gravity for the field has swung from the United States to Europe". The United Kingdom has the largest number of active parapsychologists of all nations. In the UK, researchers work in conventional psychology departments and do studies in mainstream psychology to "boost their credibility and show that their methods are sound". It

6958-419: The latest research and more obscure topics are only accessible through scientific articles. In a scientific research group or academic department it is usual for the content of current scientific journals to be discussed in journal clubs . Public funding bodies often require the results to be published in scientific journals. Academic credentials for promotion into academic ranks are established in large part by

7056-422: The model for similar societies in other European countries and the United States during the late 19th century. Early clairvoyance experiments were reported in 1884 by Charles Richet . Playing cards were enclosed in envelopes, and a subject was put under hypnosis to identify them. The subject was reported to have succeeded in a series of 133 trials, but the results dropped to the chance level when performed before

7154-450: The most important or most-used titles. There is usually a delay of several months after an article is written before it is published in a journal, making paper journals not an ideal format for announcing the latest research. Many journals now publish the final papers in their electronic version as soon as they are ready, without waiting for the assembly of a complete issue, as is necessary with paper. In many fields in which even greater speed

7252-467: The next step is to read the abstract (or summary or conclusion, if the abstract is missing), to see if the article is worth reading. Then, if it seems like reading it would be worthwhile, the reader would then read the whole article. Publishing research results is an essential part of helping science to advance. If scientists are describing experiments or calculations, they should also explain how they did them so that an independent researcher could repeat

7350-415: The nucleus of an international professional society in parapsychology. The aim of the organization, as stated in its Constitution, became "to advance parapsychology as a science, to disseminate knowledge of the field, and to integrate the findings with those of other branches of science". In 1969, under the direction of anthropologist Margaret Mead , the Parapsychological Association became affiliated with

7448-423: The number and impact of scientific articles published. Many doctoral programs allow for thesis by publication , where the candidate is required to publish a certain number of scientific articles. Articles tend to be highly technical, representing the latest theoretical research and experimental results in the field of science covered by the journal. They are often incomprehensible to anyone except for researchers in

7546-663: The past (see list of scientific journals ) . Most journals are highly specialized, although some of the oldest journals such as Science and Nature publish articles and scientific papers across a wide range of scientific fields. Scientific journals contain articles that have been peer reviewed , in an attempt to ensure that articles meet the journal's standards of quality and scientific validity . Although scientific journals are superficially similar to professional magazines (or trade journals), they are actually quite different. Among other things, scientific journals' papers' authors are experts who must cite everything (and have

7644-411: The possibility of survival of consciousness after bodily death , near-death experiences , and out-of-body experiences . Gary Schwartz at the University of Arizona 's Veritas Laboratory conducted laboratory investigations of mediums , criticized by scientific skeptics . Several private institutions, including the Institute of Noetic Sciences , conduct and promote parapsychological research. Over

7742-772: The rapid dissemination capability, and availability, on the Internet. In tandem with this is the speeding up of peer review, copyediting, page makeup, and other steps in the process to support rapid dissemination. Other improvements, benefits and unique values of electronically publishing the scientific journal are easy availability of supplementary materials (data, graphics and video), lower cost, and availability to more people, especially scientists from non-developed countries. Hence, research results from more developed nations are becoming more accessible to scientists from non-developed countries. Moreover, electronic publishing of scientific journals has been accomplished without compromising

7840-462: The reader's computer will need to be integrated. Many journals are electronically available in formats readable on screen via web browsers , as well as in portable document format PDF , suitable for printing and storing on a local desktop or laptop computer. New tools such as JATS and Utopia Documents provide a 'bridge' to the 'web-versions' in that they connect the content in PDF versions directly to

7938-412: The receiver mentally. While in the Ganzfeld, experimenters ask the receiver to continuously speak aloud all mental processes, including images, thoughts, and feelings. At the end of the sending period, typically about 20 to 40 minutes, the receiver is taken out of the Ganzfeld state and shown four images or videos, one of which is the actual target and three non-target decoys. The receiver attempts to select

8036-402: The results as she could have simply written her own record to agree with the other. When the experiment was repeated and the records were sent to Rhine, the scores dropped to average. Lucien Warner and Mildred Raible performed a famous ESP experiment at Duke University. Warner and Raible locked a subject in a room with a switch controlling a signal light elsewhere, which she could signal to guess

8134-475: The results under the same conditions described in the paper or at least similar conditions and produce similar results with similar measurements of the same measurand or carried out under changed conditions of measurement. While the ability to reproduce the results based only on details included in the article is expected, verification of reproducibility by a third party is not generally required for publication. The reproducibility of results presented in an article

8232-440: The scientific community. As of 2012 , it is estimated that over 28,100 active scientific journals are in publication, covering a broad spectrum of disciplines from the general sciences, as seen in journals like Science and Nature , to highly specialized fields. These journals primarily publish peer-reviewed articles, including original research , review articles , and perspectives , each serving distinct purposes within

8330-408: The second major U.S. academic institution to engage in the critical study of ESP and psychokinesis in the laboratory. Under the guidance of psychologist William McDougall , and with the help of others in the department—including psychologists Karl Zener , Joseph B. Rhine , and Louisa E. Rhine —laboratory ESP experiments using volunteer subjects from the undergraduate student body began. As opposed to

8428-411: The standards of the refereed, peer review process. One form is the online equivalent of the conventional paper journal. By 2006, almost all scientific journals have, while retaining their peer-review process, established electronic versions; a number have moved entirely to electronic publication. In a similar manner, most academic libraries buy the electronic version and purchase a paper copy only for

8526-612: The statistical results higher than they should have been. Rhine and his colleagues attempted to address these criticisms through new experiments described in the book Extrasensory Perception After Sixty Years (1940). Rhine described three experiments: the Pearce-Pratt experiment , the Pratt-Woodruff experiment , and the Ownbey-Zirkle series, which he believed demonstrated ESP. However, C. E. M. Hansel wrote, "It

8624-447: The subjects. Estabrooks acted as the sender, with the guesser in an adjoining room. Estabrooks conducted a total of 2,300 trials. When Estabrooks sent the subjects to a distant room with insulation, the scores dropped to chance level. Attempts to repeat the experiment also failed. The publication of J. B. Rhine's book, New Frontiers of the Mind (1937), brought the laboratory's findings to the general public. In his book, Rhine popularized

8722-658: The support of psychologist William James , the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR) opened its doors in Boston in 1885, moving to New York City in 1905 under the leadership of James H. Hyslop . Notable cases investigated by Walter Franklin Prince of the ASPR in the early 20th century included Pierre L. O. A. Keeler , the Great Amherst Mystery and Patience Worth . In 1911, Stanford University became

8820-411: The target, using perceptions experienced during the Ganzfeld state as clues to what the mentally "sent" image might have been. The Ganzfeld experiment studies that were examined by Ray Hyman and Charles Honorton had methodological problems that were well documented. Honorton reported only 36% of the studies used duplicate target sets of pictures to avoid handling cues. Hyman discovered flaws in all of

8918-514: The term remote viewing for use in some of his work at SRI in 1974. The surge in paranormal research continued into the 1980s: the Parapsychological Association reported members working in more than 30 countries. For example, research was carried out and regular conferences held in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union although the word parapsychology was discarded in favor of the term psychotronics. The main promoter of psychotronics

9016-642: The university were broken. Rhine later established the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man (FRNM) and the Institute for Parapsychology as a successor to the Duke laboratory. In 1995, the centenary of Rhine's birth, the FRNM was renamed the Rhine Research Center . Today, the Rhine Research Center is a parapsychology research unit, stating that it "aims to improve the human condition by creating

9114-486: The word "parapsychology", coined by psychologist Max Dessoir over 40 years earlier, to describe the research conducted at Duke. Rhine also founded an autonomous Parapsychology Laboratory within Duke and started the Journal of Parapsychology , which he co-edited with McDougall. Rhine, along with associate Karl Zener, had developed a statistical system of testing for ESP that involved subjects guessing what symbol, out of five possible symbols, would appear when going through

9212-630: Was Czech scientist Zdeněk Rejdák, who described it as a physical science , organizing conferences and presiding over the International Association for Psychotronic Research. In 1985, the Department of Psychology at the University of Edinburgh established a Chair of Parapsychology, awarding it to Robert Morris , an experimental parapsychologist from the United States. Morris and his research associates and PhD students pursued research on topics related to parapsychology. Since

9310-527: Was also reason to suspect that the research managers had adjusted their project reports to fit the known background cues. The affiliation of the Parapsychological Association (PA) with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, along with a general openness to psychic and occult phenomena in the 1970s, led to a decade of increased parapsychological research. During this period, other related organizations were also formed, including

9408-466: Was anecdotal, biased, dubious and the result of "faulty observation and familiar human frailties". Rhine's experiments were discredited due to the discovery that sensory leakage or cheating could account for all his results, such as the subject being able to read the symbols from the back of the cards and being able to see and hear the experimenter to note subtle clues. Illusionist Milbourne Christopher wrote years later that he felt "there are at least

9506-407: Was seen as a way of enabling researchers who were not as well-known to have their papers published in journals that were more prestigious. Though it was originally done by mailing copies of papers to reviewers, it is now done online. The authors of scientific articles are active researchers instead of journalists; typically, a graduate student or a researcher writes a paper with a professor. As such,

9604-401: Was used to prevent the pair from communicating by sensory cues. Ownbey tapped a telegraph key to Zirkle to inform him when she was trying to send him a symbol. The door separating the two rooms was open during the experiment, and after each guess, Zirkle would call out his guess to Ownbey, who recorded his choice. Critics pointed out the experiment was flawed as Ownbey acted as both the sender and

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