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Articles on Scientific method

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It can be painful for researchers to read harshly worded criticism of their work from peer reviewers. (Shutterstock)

Peer review: Can this critical step in the publication of science research be kinder?

Peer review of research sounds like it should be a conversation between equals. Instead, it can be patronizing, demanding and simply unkind. A group of journal editors thinks this should change.
In the reluctance to vaccinate, there is a lack of trust and understanding of the scientific process. Better communication would help rebuild bridges. The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson

A researcher’s view on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: The scientific process needs to be better explained

Before the pandemic, the public perceived science as infallible and inaccessible. But the opening up of research to the general public has changed that perception.
Announcement of the Nobel Prize in Economics to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer (from left to right on the screen) during a press conference held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on 14 October 2019. Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP

2019 Nobel Prize in Economics: the limits of the clinical trial method

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics pays tribute to randomized control trials, but can they really help us fight poverty?
Putting scientific results under the microscope before they are even collected could help improve science as a whole. Konstantin Kolosov/Shutterstock

Predicting research results can mean better science and better advice

Researchers rarely collect information that lets them to compare their results with what was believed beforehand. If they did, it could help spot new or important findings more readily.
George Christensen and Bob Katter seem to be using the science replication crisis to cast doubt on research findings that farmers don’t like. Mick Tsikas/AAP Image

Real problem, wrong solution: why the Nationals shouldn’t politicise the science replication crisis

Across science, only around half of published results can be successfully replicated. But while this is a serious problem, the proposed public audit looks like a political bid to cast doubt on science.
Caesarean delivery alone does not contribute to the odds of a child developing autism or ADHD. Aditya Romansa

There’s no evidence caesarean sections cause autism or ADHD

A new study has found a link between being born by caesarean section and having a greater chance of being diagnosed with autism or ADHD. But there’s no evidence caesarean sections cause them.
Some studies don’t hold up to added scrutiny. PORTRAIT IMAGES ASIA BY NONWARIT/shutterstock.com

The replication crisis is good for science

Rising evidence shows that many psychology studies don’t stand up to added scrutiny. The problem has many scientists worried – but it could also encourage them to up their game.
Doubting Thomas needed the proof, just like a scientist, and now is a cautionary Biblical example. Caravaggio/Wikimedia Commons

Yes, there is a war between science and religion

An evolutionary biologist makes the case that there’s no reconciling science and religion. In the search for truth, one tests hypotheses while the other relies on faith.
Scientists are facing a reproducibility crisis. Y Photo Studio/shutterstock.com

How big data has created a big crisis in science

Science is in a reproducibility crisis. This is driven in part by invalid statistical analyses that happen long after the data are collected – the opposite of how things are traditionally done.

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