What the evidence labels mean
A familiar scientific concept and a new proposal can look equally authoritative on a page. These labels help you tell them apart.
Established Concept
A concept with recognized use in academic or professional literature. Source monitoring is one example. Researchers may still disagree about its mechanisms, measurement, or applications.
Emerging Concept
A term used in research or professional discussion whose definition varies across fields. Synthetic media is labeled this way because its boundaries depend on the context.
Proposed Term
A working definition offered by this project, such as synthetic imprinting. The label makes no claim of scientific acceptance, priority, or ownership of the phrase.
Hypothesis
An explanation or relationship that could be tested. For example, reality-model drift asks whether repeated synthetic experiences might change everyday expectations over time. That relationship is not established here.
Speculative
An exploratory idea with too little evidence to treat as a finding. Speculation can generate questions, but it should not be reported as something research has demonstrated.
How a label is chosen
We consider published usage, the clarity of the definition, and the strength and relevance of the evidence. These are editorial classifications. A term does not become established just because it appears on this site or is repeated elsewhere.
Can a label change?
Yes. Better evidence may support, narrow, or challenge an idea. A proposed term may also turn out to be unnecessary. See the methodology for the review process, or suggest a correction.