Unprecedented! Incredible! Scientific grant applications are getting heavier on hype
“Novel.” “Exciting.” “Incredible.” “Devastating.” “Unprecedented.” You name the adjective, and a scientist has probably stuck it into a grant application to score funding.
In semi-official scientific parlance, they’re known as “hype.” And adjectives like these are becoming more common in grant applications, according to a new study. The research, published in JAMA Network Open, found that 130 out of 139 hype adjectives increased in prevalence by an average of over 1,300% percent in successful applications submitted to the National Institutes of Health between 1985 and 2020. Words like “novel,” “critical,” “sustainable,” and “actionable” saw the greatest increases in use.
