David Vaux, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
Australian scientists are no more honest or dishonest than those in other countries that have national bodies to investigate research fraud. We have a sport integrity watchdog but not one for research.
When pursuing information for big data projects, the risks to individual autonomy and privacy are easily overlooked.
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The government has breached the public’s trust and its own privacy policy by using Medicare data about Australians’ prescribing habits to recruit participants for a study.
What is each partner looking to get?
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The interests of pharmaceutical companies and public health are not the same. Industry dollars can distort research agendas, while framing health challenges and solutions in ways that benefit corporations.
It’s good for scientists to work in glass laboratories.
Len Rubenstein
Science isn’t cold, hard facts uncovered by emotionless robots. Acknowledging how and where values play a role promotes a more realistic view and can advance science’s reputation for reliability.
Opening up data and materials helps with research transparency.
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Partly in response to the so-called ‘reproducibility crisis’ in science, researchers are embracing a set of practices that aim to make the whole endeavor more transparent, more reliable – and better.
People seem to think industry-funded research belongs in the garbage.
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Scientists need funding to do their work. But a new study finds turning to industry partners taints perceptions of university research, and including other kinds of partners doesn’t really help.
Science and integrity is under the microscope.
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For researchers, social media is a veritable goldmine of opportunity. Every day, reams and reams of naturally occurring data are produced by users of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. At any given moment…
Drinkers who consume energy drinks record higher breath alcohol concentrations than those who don’t.
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Heavy drinkers are mixing alcohol with energy drinks to enable them to drink longer and get more drunk. While the trend is concerning many public health researchers – because the risks remain unknown – others…
Public confidence in medical research is vulnerable to attacks on its integrity.
Andrew Huff
Clinical trials of an experimental cancer drug being undertaken by the University of New South Wales were suspended this week, after questions about the accuracy of some preliminary results were made public…