Politics and the lack of compensation are among the factors that can undermine the peer review process, which is important to the quality of knowledge in academic journals.
Theranos was dissolved years ago, and its CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, is in prison, but the company’s patents based on bad science live on – a stark example of the persistence of faulty information.
An intellectually humble person may have strong commitments to various beliefs − but balanced with an openness to the likelihood that others, too, may have valuable insights, ideas and evidence.
Severe scrutiny of two major papers, including one about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, is part of science’s normal process of self-correction.
Genome sequencing technologies have transformed biological research in many ways, but have had a much smaller effect on the treatment of common diseases.
A database of retractions shows hundreds of academic articles with Australian authors have been withdrawn. Research misconduct threatens to corrode trust in academic qualifications and publications.
It’s a problem when much of what winds up in scientific journals isn’t replicable, for various reasons. The research community is taking baby steps toward addressing the “reproducibility crisis.”
Presidential Professor and Director of Graduate Studies for biology programs; Director, Cellular & Behavioral Neurobiology Graduate Program, University of Oklahoma