Nature - Reply to: Dataset artefacts can partially drive the measured decline in disruption

Holst, V., Algaba, A., Tori, F., Wenmackers, S. & Ginis, V. Dataset artefacts can partially drive the measured decline in disruption. Nature (2026). Article  Google Scholar  Park, M., Leahey, E. & Funk, R. J. Papers and patents are becoming less disruptive over time. Nature 613, 138–144 (2023). Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  Wu, X., Wu, L., Park, M., Leahey, E.

replying to: V. Holst et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10787-y (2026). In the accompanying Comment1, Holst et al. claim that the decline in disruptiveness that we documented in Park et al.2 is an artefact of including works that do not cite any references (that is, have zero backward citations). Using the dataset, metric and method advocated by Holst et al.1, we find declines equivalent to benchmark transformations in science. Their own regression model—designed to address their concerns about works with zero references—yields large, significant declines for papers and patents (P < 0.01), a result that is presented in their supplementary tables yet left unaddressed, despite directly contradicting their central claim. Their critique is further undermined by severe quality issues in their data, which contain three times as many works with zero references as our data. We trace this excess to their inclusion of at least 2.8 million editorials, obituaries and comments, 1.5 million books and proceedings and 254,000 product and artistic reviews. Twenty per cent of their sample is non-research content that almost by definition lacks references. Simple keyword searches highlight the problem’s severity, identifying among others 456 For Dummies guides, 50 Dr. Seuss and Curious George books, and the Captain Underpants...