LESSONS: The newest virtual compilation across the EGU publications

For more than two decades, the EGU has been a pioneer in advancing transparent and open science by developing innovative publication models that foster constructive scientific discourse and strengthen the integrity and accessibility of geoscientific research. In line with this long commitment, we now explicitly encourage submissions of LESSONS – Limitations, Errors, Surprises, and Shortcomings as Opportunities for New Science. Reporting on LESSONS goes beyond the traditional scientific literature that is often biased toward positive results and successful studies.

 

LESSONS can be submitted in two formats: LESSONS Reports provide substantial, valuable insights into specific research questions and are publicly peer-reviewed and discussed for potential publication in one of the EGU journals. LESSONS posts may present less developed ideas; they are non-peer-reviewed stand-alone preprints on EGUsphere only.

 

We will illustrate how the LESSONS compilation is embedded within the broader infrastructure of the EGU publications. Unlike our other virtual inter-journal compilations, such as EGU Letters (letter-style highlight articles) and the Encyclopedia of Geosciences (review articles) that are populated after a journal article is published, LESSONS preprints are immediately included in the new virtual compilation. Thus, LESSONS is not a separate journal but the third virtual compilation across the EGU publications, including journals and the preprint repository EGUsphere, that displays papers of a specific manuscript type. This approach ensures that LESSONS articles are assessed within their individual disciplinary context and standards, while bringing them together on a single platform to provide insights from limitations, errors, and unexpected outcomes across the geosciences.

 

We invite researchers at all career stages to learn more about the LESSONS compilation and to share questions, feedback, and suggestions as part of a collective effort to help shift publishing culture toward greater openness, including the communication of unsuccessful or inconclusive studies.