Collection Overview

Humanities & Social Sciences Communications has launched a Guest-Edited Collection on Knowing without knowing: how false confidence shapes the world.

In an age marked by global instability, political upheaval and rapid information exchange, false confidence and misplaced certainty are emerging as central concerns across the social and psychological sciences.

We welcome papers that explore how false or misplaced confidence — manifested in fanaticism, wilful ignorance, misinformation sharing and ideological entrenchment — shapes individual and collective behaviour, undermines democratic processes and threatens social cohesion. 

This will be a Collection of empirical research, theoretical and conceptual contributions, systematic reviews, qualitative case studies, and interdisciplinary perspectives that critically interrogate how misplaced certainty operates in individual minds, collective movements, and structural systems.

This Collection is open for submissions from all authors – on the condition that the manuscripts fall within the scope of the Collection and of Humanities & Social Sciences Communications more generally. We are welcoming submissions until 23rd April 2026.

Why is this Collection important? 

"From everyday choices to the spread of misinformation and unfounded beliefs, false confidence may affect our lives. The Collection delves into correlates, causes and consequences of believing without knowing and being convinced without proper evidence and acting on beliefs that may ultimately turn out not only incorrect or false but also harmful." - Dr. Magdalena Adamus 

Why submit to a Collection? 

Collections like this one help promote high-quality science. They are led by Guest Editors, who are experts in their fields, and In-House Editors and are supported by a dedicated team of Commissioning Editors and Managing Editors at Springer Nature. Collection manuscripts typically see higher citations, downloads, and Altmetric scores, and provide a one-stop-shop on a cutting-edge topic of interest.

Who is involved? 

Guest Editors:

• Magdalena Adamus, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
• Sibo Chen, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada
• Julia Partheymüller, University of Vienna, Austria

Internal Team:

• In-House Editor: Gino D'Oca, Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, UK
• Commissioning Editor: Joe Cockman, Fully OA Brands, Springer Nature, UK
• Managing Editor: Anthony Heron, Fully OA Brands, Springer Nature, UK

How can I submit my paper? 

Visit the Collection Page to find out more about this Collection and how to submit your article.