Scientific ideas, especially the truly innovative ones, are like seeds — they need fertile ground and tender care in order to grow to their true potential. Seeds of Science (ISSN: 2768-1254) is a journal dedicated to nurturing promising ideas and helping them blossom into scientific innovation. Peer review is conducted through voting and commenting by our diverse network of reviewers, or “Gardeners” as we call them (free to join, see below).
We publish our articles in two formats: as a PDF at TheSeedsofScience.org and here on our Substack. Although a “Seed of Science” may be different than a typical scientific paper, all articles receive DOIs and are searchable in major academic databases.
We also host the SoS Research Collective, a first-of-its-kind virtual research organization for independent researchers (and academics thinking independently).
What is a “Seed of Science”?
It is a speculation, an idea for an experiment, a novel observation, a thought-provoking question and discussion, the highlighting of an under-appreciated problem, or an unorthodox research study. Like a real seed, a “Seed of Science” is small and carefully crafted. A good Seed includes some kind of justification for how the ideas could advance science (e.g. an argument, proposed experiment, or preliminary data analysis) and provides as much evidence and rationale as possible. Besides that, there are virtually no requirements on content or style — Seeds can be from any scientific discipline (including metascience and science ethics) and can be written in non-traditional formats (e.g. narratives, dialogues, etc.).
Learn more about our publication criteria and submission process on the “Publishing with SoS” page.
Why publish with Seeds of Science?
Receive constructive feedback on your ideas through our community-based review process. Reviewer comments that illuminate and extend your ideas in a useful manner will be published after the main text of your article.
Publish your article as a PDF (assigned a DOI, searchable in major academic databases) and as Substack article (website text/email newsletter). With these two formats, your manuscript will be officially registered in the scholarly literature and be shared in a more accessible format that will expose your work to a wider audience (authors may include a biography and links to their websites/blogs). Note: we do not require authors to take down articles from personal websites/blogs once they have been published with us.
Participate in a project that aims to disrupt the scientific publishing industry and promote greater creativity and diversity of thought in science.
How can I support SoS?
A paid subscription to the Seeds of Science Substack
Here’s the rub though—putting ideas (i.e. seeds of science) behind a paywall is sort of against our whole philosophy. So we aren’t going to do that. So what is a paid subscription getting you then? The sheer bliss that comes with knowing you are one of the good guys, that you stand on the right side of history, that your descendents will smile upon your deeds. What I’m really trying to say is that a subscription is really just a donation.
As far as non-financial ways of supporting us, the first thing you can do is spread the word by sharing the SoS Research Collective with your friends, family, colleagues, lovers, haters, etc. The second thing you can do is repeatedly shout SEEDS OF SCIENCE at the top of your lungs from the nearest mountaintop. Beyond that, we'd love to hear from anyone who is interested in what we're doing and would like to get involved or help in some way (we can imagine a few roles that might be of interest to some).
Lastly, all are invited to join us as gardeners (free to join and participation is 100% voluntary—we send you submitted articles and you can choose to vote/comment or abstain without notification; register here).
