a right, granted by a government, which allows the patent holder to exclude others from making, using, or commercializing an invention for a period of time, typically 20 years. To be patented, an invention must be novel, non-obvious, and useful. The patent holder must publicly disclose how to make and use the invention in the patent application.

The process of using experts within a scientific or academic discipline (or peers) to evaluate articles submitted for publication, grant proposals, or other materials.

a peer review process in which neither the authors nor the reviewers are told each other’s identities.

a peer review process in which the authors and reviewers are told each other’s identities.

 a peer review process, used by most scientific journals, in which the reviewers are told the identities of the authors but not vice versa.

a biologically or chemically inactive substance or intervention given to a research subject which is used to control for the Placebo effect.

a person’s psychosomatic response to the belief that they are receiving an effective treatment. Researchers may also be susceptible to the placebo effect if they treat subjects differently who they believe are receiving effective treatment. See also Double-Blinding.

misrepresenting someone else’s creative work (e.g. words, methods, pictures, ideas, or data) as one’s own. See also Research misconduct.

reusing one’s own work without proper attribution or citation. Some people do not view self-plagiarism as a form of plagiarism because it does not involve intellectual theft.

1. Activities associated with governance of a country. 2. The science or art of government. 3. The study of government.