OxJournal is an academic platform for intellectually engaged young people. We publish high-quality, university-level research papers produced by 12-18 year olds under the supervision of an expert academic or researcher in their chosen field of study. We hope the papers published here will inspire you to further explore your own academic interests and potential.
Business, Economics & Finance
Digital Choice Architecture and Heuristic Exploitation: Assessing the Ethics of Dark Patterns in Modern E-Commerce
This paper looks at the relationship between behavioural economics and digital commerce, focusing on how the environment surrounding a purchase can shape consumer decisions. It considers the ways digital platforms use what is known about consumer behaviour and what happens when those strategies become part of the design itself.
Read More
The Gamification of Retail Investing: Amplifying Cognitive Biases and High-Risk Decision-Making Among Young Investors
This paper investigates the question: To what extent does the gamification of finance and investing apps influence cognitive biases and high-risk financial decision-making among young retail investors?
Read More
Computer Science & Coding
Digital Twins: Concepts, Technologies, Applications, Challenges and Future Directions
Digital twin technology has emerged as a foundation for modern hybrid engineering, integrating physical assets with their virtual replicas through continuous, automated bidirectional data synchronisation. This paper explores the concepts, technologies, applications, challenges and future directions of digital twin technology.
Read More
Explainable Artificial Intelligence: A Comprehensive Review of Methods, Applications, Challenges and Future Directions
Explainability is a significant weakness of artificial intelligence. While modern AI delivers outstanding performance, its black box creates significant trust and safety difficulties for users. This paper provides an overview of explainable AI (XAI), a field dedicated to making AI decisions more transparent and interpretable.
Read More
Engineering
Artificial Intelligence: Environmental Burden or Benefit?
This paper examines the timely research question: does the energy and carbon footprint of generative and predictive artificial intelligence outweigh its ability to improve power grid efficiency and renewable energy use?
Read More
How Does Electric Propulsion in Modern eVTOL Aircraft Compare with Traditional Rotor-Based Systems?
This paper asks how electric propulsion in modern eVTOLs compares with traditional ways of flying and what challenges will decide whether electric flying vehicles become part of everyday travel.
Read More
Law
Greenwashing and the Law: A Comparative Analysis of the UK and the USA
Greenwashing can mislead consumers, reduce trust in environmental claims and manipulate purchasing decisions. This paper looks at the social and legal impact of greenwashing in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Read More
Gateways to Justice: Assessing the Fitness, Reform and Reach of English Jurisdictional Rules
The expansion of cross-border commerce has made the question of when English courts may exercise jurisdiction over foreign defendants one of the most contested issues in private international law. This paper evaluates the English jurisdictional framework in three stages.
Read More
Medicine
Wearable Technologies in Healthcare: Applications, Benefits, Limitations and Future Direction
This paper examines the benefits, limitations and future direction of wearable technologies for monitoring and detecting respiratory diseases, diabetes and metabolic conditions, cancer, and dermatological and skin conditions.
Read More
How Effective Is the Use of FGFR3 Inhibitors in Treating Glioblastomas and Gliomas?
Glioblastomas and other gliomas are aggressive brain tumours that often return after standard treatment. A small number contain changes in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3), which may provide a target for treatment. This review examines the effectiveness of four FGFR inhibitors: infigratinib, erdafitinib, dabogratinib and pemigatinib.
Read More
Politics & International Relations
Under What Conditions Does Political Foreign Aid Work?
Political foreign aid can create dependency and weaken recipient sovereignty when donor interests take precedence over local needs. This paper asks under what conditions political foreign aid produces positive outcomes and when it instead reinforces dependency or institutional weakness.
Read More
Rethinking Foreign Aid: Comparing Western Assistance and Emerging Development Finance Models
This paper compares two categories of foreign aid using OECD reporting and AidData’s record of Chinese lending, examining economic growth, association, infrastructure development and the militarisation of aid, with China and Türkiye representing the non-Western cases.
Read More
Psychology & Neuroscience
Music’s Positive Neurological Effect on the Brain While Going Through a Heartbreak
This paper synthesises multiple studies related to the neurological effects of romantic heartbreak. The author argues that music may help to regulate the reward system, attachment system and social rejection system after the dissolution of a relationship.
Read More
How Does Childhood Neglect Influence Neural Development, and Can This Explain the Impact of Childhood Neglect on Adult Romantic Relationships?
Difficulties in adult romantic relationships often trace back to early childhood experiences. This paper argues that childhood neglect is associated with long-term changes in neural systems involved in attachment, reward and threat processing which may explain difficulties in adult romantic relationships.
Read More