Call for Nominations: 3rd Annual Trial and Error Award

Journal of Trial and Error (JOTE) aims to showcase the importance of understanding and sharing the challenges/failures researchers face in their work. The Trial and Error Award, established by JOTE, celebrates the courage and transparency of researchers who embrace their scientific setbacks and share the invaluable lessons learned through failure. Following the success of the previous two awards, we’re thrilled to announce the 3rd Annual Trial and Error Award. 

Starting from only allowing nominations to articles published in the Journal of Trial and Error for the 1st edition, broadening the scope in the 2nd edition to allow for any published scientific article, for this 3rd edition we now accept any published work that explores scientific failure! This could be an article published in a scientific journal about a null result, a blog post describing a large project that didn't work out, a dataset of prototypes that never made it to production: almost anything you can think of, as  long as it has tangible connection to science and academia more broadly.

Eligibility Criteria

We welcome nominations from all disciplines. Eligible articles must:

  • Be a published work discussing or analyzing a scientific failure/negative- or null result.
  • Be published between 1 June 2025 and 31 May 2026.

Works can be nominated by a reader, author or colleague.

Nomination Process

To nominate an article, please provide:

1. Title and DOI and/or URL
2. Authors’ Names, Affiliations, and Contact Information
3. A brief rationale for why the published work is a strong candidate
 
by filling out the form below.

Submit your nominations by the 31th July 2026 by the latest.

Learn more about last year’s award and the stories behind it at https://blog.trialanderror.org/trial-and-error-symposium-2025-honesty-openness-and-cultural-change 

 

The winning work will be chosen from the pool of nominees via live lottery during the Trial and Error Symposium on a to be announced date.

 

Why Participate?

By nominating a work, you help highlight valuable contributions to a culture of learning through failure in academia and beyond. These stories have the potential to inspire others, challenge the stigma around failure, and highlight its essential role in scientific progress. Together, this would help us redefine how we value failure in the pursuit of knowledge.

Nominate someone today!

 

Nomination Form