Word for common knowledge in a scientific setting?

Question

I remember there being a single word to represent currently accepted facts in a scientific discipline. Common knowledge, but in a scientific setting. It is a jargon-y sounding word.

You'd use it when mentioning an accepted theory or concept that may be unfamiliar to a reader, but is common enough that you don't need to prove or cite it yourself.

The case I'm trying to use it in is like this:

...important to note that this study is not on the existence of the bias as it is _______, but rather the failure of subjects to account for it...

I'd like to emphasize that I'm looking for a single word. I may be misremembering it, but I am pretty certain there is one word that fits this description.

This question is similar-ish, but is not a duplicate: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/241904/expression-for-wrong-common-knowledge-a-set-of-common-misconceptions — kirkpatt, May 23 '18 at 16:38
Is this query consistent with Thomas Kuhn's concept of a scientific paradigm? — DJohnson, May 23 '18 at 16:39
...established (citation needed!) fact .... Reviewer #2 will say... — loonquawl, May 23 '18 at 17:09

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered May 23 '18 at 17:04

5

Scientific consensus (from Wikipedia):

the collective judgment, position, and opinion of the community of scientists in a particular field of study.

It also relates to Kuhn's paradigm shift which says that a single finding does not change the scientific consensus.

answered May 23 '18 at 17:04

Boondoggle

1,174

How would you word the sentence in the question using "scientific consensus?" – kirkpatt May 23 '18 at 18:11
1

@kirkpatt You could say: There is scientific consensus that the bias exists [add some references]. This study is not looking to prove the existence of the bias, but for situations when this bias does not hold up. More specifically, ...[add your hypotheses] – Boondoggle May 23 '18 at 19:02

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered May 23 '18 at 20:24

I can’t think of a specifically scientific term, and although the suggestion of @Boondggle is not wrong, the use of the term “consensus” tends to irk me personally. A wording that I would prefer, although one can argue it really isn’t any better, is:

“it is generally accepted”

or more positively, and without the implication that scientific truth is determined by vote:

“it is well established”

generally citing a reference to a review of the topic, if possible.

So in the example given in the question I would write:

...important to note that this study is not on the existence of the bias — which is well established^ref — but rather the failure of subjects to account for it...

Word for common knowledge in a scientific setting?

2 Answers2