[mberlove]

This strikes a chord with me (not that I'm the only one). Every time I write longform, I intuitively want to include, "maybe", "might", "I think", but then axe them from my writing so as to not invite total dismissal.

In the abstract the authors write "Among the existing studies, there is also divergent understandings." It'd be interesting to see the methodology of this paper (doesn't seem to have access without pay) and how it differs from previous studies.

[TomasBM]

Depends on what you're writing, I guess.

If you're writing a scientific article with the results of your research, your audience (i.e., reviewers and other readers, usually scientists) will expect you to have evidence for your claims. Any speculation or other "maybe's" should be kept in the sections like discussion or future work, or left out.

If you're writing something where opinions are accepted or even appreciated, like a position paper or a blog post, the audience should be aware that whatever you say is your interpretation anyway. But then, it also applies that some interpretations or guesses are more "educated" than others.

"Maybe" does sound too vague. Although it sounds like a language trick, I prefer to use a disclaimer at the beginning or "assume", "expect", "my understanding", to show that whatever follows is my opinion, but also that I think it's still valid and I'm willing to stand behind it.