The Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, a paradigm-shifting open access reference work, officially launches with first articles

The Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science equips readers with essential tools to apply fundamental concepts about cognition and learning to the issues of today’s society.

The MIT Press

Today the MIT Press announces the release of the first 50 articles in the Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science (OECS), a dynamic, comprehensive, and openly accessible web reference developed to guide the next generation of exploration in cognition and intelligence.

OECS’s predecessor, the MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences, has been an essential resource for researchers and students of cognitive science and neuroscience for 25 years. With the recent publication of its first articles, OECS stands to become the new benchmark in the field—made possible by generous funding from James S. McDonnell Foundation and the Allen Institute for AI. 

In our contemporary intellectual landscape, questions about the nature of the mind, its growth, interactions, and variances—from the nuances of large language models to the complexities of political polarization—demand multifaceted exploration. OECS aims to equip readers with essential tools to apply fundamental concepts about cognition and learning to the issues of today’s society, and will be one of the most contemporary, authoritative, and comprehensive reference works in the cognitive sciences currently available.

For editors-in-chief Michael C. Frank of Stanford University and Asifa Majid of the University of Oxford, OECS stands apart from other reference works because it will facilitate cross-disciplinary understanding. “Cognitive science is inherently interdisciplinary and requires shared referents,” Majid said. “The OECS will connect these resources and ideas in a single, authoritative encyclopedia.”

“These first articles give wonderful overviews in diverse areas of expertise, often with a perspective that is simply not available anywhere else,” Frank said. “Together they contribute to a field-leading resource that will continue to grow over the years to come.”

OECS’s articles will not only establish a shared understanding of foundational concepts, but also showcase cutting-edge debates and introduce core subfields, central concepts, significant phenomena, and key methodologies. The digital-first format, available on PubPub, will facilitate new forms of content, enable editors to swiftly update entries in response to new discoveries, and ensure global accessibility without cost barriers.

For further information and updates on the Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, please visit oecs.mit.edu.

Explore several featured articles from the first release in the Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science

Articles with the most views:

• Large Language Models by Melanie Mitchell
• WEIRD by Joseph Henrich
• Attention by Wayne Wu
• Bayesian Models of Cognition by Thomas L. Griffiths
• Psycholinguistics by Fernanda Ferreira and Victor S. Ferreira

Articles with the most downloads:

• Social Epistemology by Mandi Astola and Mark Alfano
• Theory of Mind by Henry M. Wellman
• Conceptual Analysis by Frank Jackson
• Causal Learning by Alison Gopnik
• Olfaction by Asifa Majid

About the MIT Press

Established in 1962, The MIT Press is one of the largest and most distinguished university presses in the world and a leading publisher of books and journals at the intersection of science, technology, art, social science, and design.