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
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?
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To What Extent Have Major Trade Wars Since 2013 Contributed to De-Globalisation?
Trade wars have historically had an enormous impact on a country’s economy, from changing stock market volatility to increasing retail prices. This article analyses four case studies to examine the extent to which major trade wars have had an impact on globalisation and international relations.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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Law
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.
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Artificial Intelligence and Its Influence on Competition Law
Competition law aims to promote healthy competition within a country. In this research paper, the authors focus on traditional aspects of competition law, regulated by the European Commission (EC), and discuss how AI can have positive and negative implications in the region of competition.
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Medicine
Wearable Technologies for Continuous Health Monitoring and Early Disease Detection
Healthcare is increasingly shifting from episodic, reactive care towards continuous, preventive and personalised monitoring. This paper reviews the role of wearable technologies in supporting this transition, with particular attention to continuous health monitoring and early disease detection.
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To What Extent Does Personalisation in the Delivery of Viral Vector-Mediated Gene Therapy Impact Its Effectiveness in Different Hereditary Diseases?
Gene therapy works differently depending on which virus is used to deliver it and how that virus is given to the patient. This paper looks at four genetic diseases – hemophilia B, spinal muscular atrophy, leber congenital amaurosis and Rett syndrome – to evaluate how these two factors affect treatment outcomes.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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