To Fail or Not to Fail

When new research topics appear, theoretical approaches are developed, predictions are made, and expectations are raised. However, experiments, modelling and simulations often show results that do not fit the expectations and the theories that were used to design the models and experiments appear to be incomplete or even wrong, or better to say unexpected. These results are often regarded as “bad” results and the conclusion of a failure is drawn! This leads often to the fact that these theories and results are not published. We think that this is the wrong approach as any result is a “good” result. It is a useful result, which can be used for further decisions, adaption of models and experiments. Therefore, we would like to raise attention on this issue and encourage everybody to publish even “bad” results, providing their discussion. These results could be helpful in the design of research strategies or in the identification of new research areas.