@inproceedings{millar-etal-2026-best,
title = "Best-Worst Scaling of Hype in Biomedical Research: Building an Intensity Lexicon of Promotional Adjectives",
author = "Millar, Neil and
Satav, Dipesh and
Batalo, Bojan and
Shimomoto, Erica K. and
Ohniwa, Ryosuke L.",
editor = "Piperidis, Stelios and
Bel, N{\'u}ria and
van den Heuvel, Henk and
Ide, Nancy and
Krek, Simon and
Toral, Antonio",
booktitle = "Proceedings of the Fifteenth Language Resources and Evaluation Conference",
month = may,
year = "2026",
address = "Palma de Mallorca, Spain",
publisher = "ELRA Language Resource Association",
url = "https://aclanthology.org/2026.lrec-1.658/",
doi = "10.63317/3cdc4v7fff2y",
pages = "8317--8326",
abstract = "Promotional language, or ``hype'', is increasingly common in biomedical research reporting. Adjectives such as groundbreaking, robust, and impactful can engage readers but also risk imposing value judgements and undermining objectivity. Detecting and assessing such language requires distinguishing degrees of promotional intensity (e.g., new {\ensuremath{<}} novel {\ensuremath{<}} groundbreaking {\ensuremath{<}} revolutionary), yet no such graded resource exists. We present an intensity-scaled lexicon of 303 promotional adjectives attested in biomedical writing across eight evaluative domains (e.g. IMPORTANCE, NOVELTY, RIGOUR). Ratings were obtained through Best{--}Worst Scaling (BWS) with human participants evaluating adjectives for promotional strength in the context of scientific research reporting. We refer to this as the Hyplex resource (Hype Lexicon). The ratings show high internal consistency (r = 0.87; 95{\%} CI [0.85, 0.89]) and correlate most strongly with arousal and dominance in the NRC VAD Lexicon, suggesting that promotional intensity aligns more with reader activation and perceptions of assertiveness than simple positivity. We also release an online BWS platform integrated with the R package bwsTools to support intensity-scaling research in other domains."
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<abstract>Promotional language, or “hype”, is increasingly common in biomedical research reporting. Adjectives such as groundbreaking, robust, and impactful can engage readers but also risk imposing value judgements and undermining objectivity. Detecting and assessing such language requires distinguishing degrees of promotional intensity (e.g., new \ensuremath< novel \ensuremath< groundbreaking \ensuremath< revolutionary), yet no such graded resource exists. We present an intensity-scaled lexicon of 303 promotional adjectives attested in biomedical writing across eight evaluative domains (e.g. IMPORTANCE, NOVELTY, RIGOUR). Ratings were obtained through Best–Worst Scaling (BWS) with human participants evaluating adjectives for promotional strength in the context of scientific research reporting. We refer to this as the Hyplex resource (Hype Lexicon). The ratings show high internal consistency (r = 0.87; 95% CI [0.85, 0.89]) and correlate most strongly with arousal and dominance in the NRC VAD Lexicon, suggesting that promotional intensity aligns more with reader activation and perceptions of assertiveness than simple positivity. We also release an online BWS platform integrated with the R package bwsTools to support intensity-scaling research in other domains.</abstract>
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%0 Conference Proceedings
%T Best-Worst Scaling of Hype in Biomedical Research: Building an Intensity Lexicon of Promotional Adjectives
%A Millar, Neil
%A Satav, Dipesh
%A Batalo, Bojan
%A Shimomoto, Erica K.
%A Ohniwa, Ryosuke L.
%Y Piperidis, Stelios
%Y Bel, Núria
%Y van den Heuvel, Henk
%Y Ide, Nancy
%Y Krek, Simon
%Y Toral, Antonio
%S Proceedings of the Fifteenth Language Resources and Evaluation Conference
%D 2026
%8 May
%I ELRA Language Resource Association
%C Palma de Mallorca, Spain
%F millar-etal-2026-best
%X Promotional language, or “hype”, is increasingly common in biomedical research reporting. Adjectives such as groundbreaking, robust, and impactful can engage readers but also risk imposing value judgements and undermining objectivity. Detecting and assessing such language requires distinguishing degrees of promotional intensity (e.g., new \ensuremath< novel \ensuremath< groundbreaking \ensuremath< revolutionary), yet no such graded resource exists. We present an intensity-scaled lexicon of 303 promotional adjectives attested in biomedical writing across eight evaluative domains (e.g. IMPORTANCE, NOVELTY, RIGOUR). Ratings were obtained through Best–Worst Scaling (BWS) with human participants evaluating adjectives for promotional strength in the context of scientific research reporting. We refer to this as the Hyplex resource (Hype Lexicon). The ratings show high internal consistency (r = 0.87; 95% CI [0.85, 0.89]) and correlate most strongly with arousal and dominance in the NRC VAD Lexicon, suggesting that promotional intensity aligns more with reader activation and perceptions of assertiveness than simple positivity. We also release an online BWS platform integrated with the R package bwsTools to support intensity-scaling research in other domains.
%R 10.63317/3cdc4v7fff2y
%U https://aclanthology.org/2026.lrec-1.658/
%U https://doi.org/10.63317/3cdc4v7fff2y
%P 8317-8326
Markdown (Informal)
[Best-Worst Scaling of Hype in Biomedical Research: Building an Intensity Lexicon of Promotional Adjectives](https://aclanthology.org/2026.lrec-1.658/) (Millar et al., LREC 2026)
ACL