"Compromised science" news/opines (includes retractions, declining academic standards, pred-J, etc)

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How covid conspiracy theories led to an alarming resurgence in AIDS denialism

How covid conspiracy theories led to an alarming resurgence in AIDS denialism

Widespread distrust of our public health system is reviving long-debunked ideas on HIV and AIDS—and energizing a broad movement that questions the foundations of disease prevention.

www.technologyreview.com

“When I hear misinformation like that, I just hope it doesn’t get traction,” says Seth Kalichman, a professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut and the author of Denying AIDS: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy.

But it already has. These comments and others like them add up to a small but unmistakable resurgence in AIDS denialism—a false collection of theories arguing either that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS or that there’s no such thing as HIV at all.

The ideas here were initially promoted by a cadre of scientists from unrelated fields...
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VIDEO LINK: How I lost trust in scientists (Sabine Hossenfelder)

EXCERPTS: But the problem isn’t that parts of physics drifted off into pseudoscience per se, because this happens every once in a while, in the natural evolution of the sciences. The problem is that it hasn’t had any consequences.

We’ve recognized the problem with ESP studies, chucked them out of universities, and updated statistical methods to prevent that from happening again. But physicists have been inventing unobservable things that no one ever finds for half a century and are still happily doing it, believing it’s proper science. And if it can happen in physics, it can happen in other disciplines, too.

[...] In the foundations of physics, scientists basically seem to have concluded that they don’t need to care about what the public thinks, they’ll get paid anyway, so now they just ignore all criticism.

Climate scientists in contrast, are afraid of the public. [...which...] does create a problem: it introduces a bias in their arguments. ... But the conclusion from that isn’t what climate change deniers want it to be. It’s not that climate change is a hoax. It’s that it’s almost certainly worse than the impression they raise...

How I lost trust in scientists

 

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The Academic Culture of Fraud

The Academic Culture of Fraud

www.palladiummag.com

EXCERPTS: Lesné’s apparent fraud is not an isolated incident. In 2023, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, then the President of Stanford University, was forced to resign after the revelation of falsified data in his earlier research at drug developer Genentech, including a now-retracted paper on the amyloid hypothesis which has been cited over 1,000 times. [...] Once again, there is no effort to find the supposed true culprits...

[...] Medical fraud may be the most evil form of academic fraud, but it is not the only one, or even the most common. More famous is the “replication crisis” in academic psychology...

[...] If bureaucratized peer reviewers or even a paper’s own coauthors aren’t expected to pay enough attention to notice blatant fraud, if fraud is only revealed by third-party investigators when they choose to make a years-long personal crusade in the face of institutional headwinds, if those frauds which are uncovered don’t come to light until decades after the fact, then we can be confident that almost all of the frauds have gotten away with it...

[...] The U.S. financial system is hardly the greatest edifice of justice in the world. Yet, it demonstrates a basic level of self-policing, effort to uphold professional standards, and accountability to the rest of society. Academic institutions fall far short of these minimal standards...

[...] Fraud is certainly not the only problem in academic science. Lesser crimes such as massaging data to create false positives and “HARKing” (hypothesizing after the results are known) are even more common...

[...] With some honorable exceptions, most academics don’t care very much about the capital-T Truth. Oh, they’d prefer Truth to lies, if Truth only cost two dollars. But if the cost is at all serious, they won’t pay it. It is a fault in the institutions that academics must choose between wealth and prestige and career success on the one hand, and pursuit of Truth on the other...

[...] I have little hope that academic science can be reformed from the inside. Frankly, it seems too far gone...

[...] One conviction per decade is not nearly enough to solve the problem, but it shows that the legal tools already exist. ... More likely, reform will come through circumvention from outside the academic system... (MORE - missing details)

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Noah Lyles' collapse underscores our collective COVID denial

Noah Lyles' collapse underscores our collective COVID denial

We keep pretending that the pandemic is done and over, but it keeps knocking us off our feet

www.salon.com

EXCERPTS: But seeing an American Olympic star sprawled out and gasping on the track, and then taken away in a wheelchair, was more than a shocking image. It also represented the general “mission accomplished” attitude toward SARS-CoV-2: We think we’ve won against this virus and we haven’t.

COVID isn’t just spreading like wildfire through the Olympic Village in Paris — we are undergoing surges across the globe, with the World Health Organization tracking steep rises in infections in 84 countries. After more than four years fighting this thing, it is still knocking us out.

[...] Yes, a virus that can literally cause brain damage is spreading at record levels and most people are acting like it’s just another wave. Just keep running. But we’re not just paying the price with our bodies. The economy is also getting smacked by long COVID. ... We have plenty of tools to protect ourselves, but our strategy is instead denial, and it isn't working... (MORE - details)
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Just say “Climate Change” – not “Climate Emergency” (stick to basics, not propaganda embellishments)

Just Say “Climate Change” – not “Climate Emergency”

USC study reveals that people are more familiar with tried-and-true names for climate change – including climate change.

priceschool.usc.edu

INTRO: In 2019, The Guardian newspaper announced that it would start using the terms “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown” in place of “climate change.”

“The phrase ‘climate change’, for example, sounds rather passive and gentle when what scientists are talking about is a catastrophe for humanity,” said the editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner.

But as it turns out, the gentler approach is more effective.

According to a USC study published today in the journal Climatic Change, people are not only more familiar with “climate change” and “global warming,” the terms generate more concern than their over-heated alternatives: “climate crisis,” “climate emergency,” and “climate justice.” (MORE - details)
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Encounters with the maverick archaeologist of the Americas (cancel culture in science?)

Encounters with the Maverick Archaeologist of the Americas | Hakai Magazine

It took a mountain of data to shake off the skeptics and rewrite the history of human migrations, but archaeologist Tom Dillehay was always interested in so much more than an argument.

hakaimagazine.com

EXCERPTS: The argument between the Clovis First supporters and the Monte Verde defenders was partly reasonable. [...] But for whatever reasons—perhaps Dillehay’s relative youth in challenging an accepted theory backed by archaeological powerhouses, or wide and persistent coverage of Monte Verde in newspapers, magazines, journals, and television documentaries—the argument went beyond professional.

The ensuing war was, in the word of a Nature editorial, “brutal.” Some Clovis First proponents sent an anonymous letter to Dillehay’s university asking that he be fired, and one sent a letter to a Chilean newspaper alleging that Dillehay was a CIA plant. They refused to shake his hand at meetings, and froze some of his graduate students out of jobs.

Twenty-one years after his first finds at Monte Verde, Dillehay published two large, dense volumes of evidence that included data from 60 specialists, he says, “probably some of the most interdisciplinary in the history of archaeology.”

[...] The overkill was Dillehay’s response to the Clovis war, he says, as though he was snapping at the critics, “You want data?”

And now, years later, with Monte Verde almost completely unquestioned and his own reputation sterling, he says he’s satisfied that his work “made its mark.” But the harsh attacks must have been painful for a young scientist with a vulnerable career, and maybe that effect accounts for his complicated persona... (MORE - missing details)
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A scientist peer-reviewed an article that plagiarized his work. Then he saw it published elsewhere.

A scientist peer-reviewed an article that plagiarized his work. Then he saw it published elsewhere.

Sam Payne When Sam Payne reviewed a paper in March for Elsevier’s BioSystems, he didn’t expect to come across a figure he had created in his research. He quickly scrolled through the rest of the pa…

retractionwatch.com

When Sam Payne reviewed a paper in March for Elsevier’s BioSystems, he didn’t expect to come across a figure he had created in his research. He quickly scrolled through the rest of the paper to find more figures, all copied from his work. [...] Although the journal rejected the paper at Payne’s recommendation, he worried the authors would try to publish elsewhere...

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Authors retract quantum physics paper from Science after finding mistakes
https://retractionwatch.com/2024/08...cs-paper-from-science-after-finding-mistakes/

A team of physicists has retracted a paper from Science after they discovered mistakes in their data and statistical analysis when following up on their work...

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Exclusive: Publisher to retract article for excessively citing one researcher after Retraction Watch inquiry
https://retractionwatch.com/2024/08...ne-researcher-after-retraction-watch-inquiry/

A paper that cited a single researcher’s work in 53 of 64 references will be retracted following our inquiries, the publisher of the journal has told Retraction Watch...

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Former Maryland dept. chair with $19 million in grants faked data in 13 papers, feds say

Former Maryland dept. chair with $19 million in grants faked data in 13 papers, feds say

Richard Eckert A former department chair engaged in research misconduct in work funded by 19 grants from the National Institutes of Health, according to the U.S. Office of Research Integrity. …

retractionwatch.com

A former department chair engaged in research misconduct in work funded by 19 grants from the National Institutes of Health, according to the U.S. Office of Research Integrity...

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What’s in a picture? Two decades of image manipulation awareness and action

What’s in a picture? Two decades of image manipulation awareness and action

via www.CartoonStock.com This year marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of “What’s in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation,” in which I described the problem of image mani…

retractionwatch.com

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of “What’s in a picture? The temptation of image manipulation,” in which I described the problem of image manipulation in biomedical research. Two decades later, much has changed...
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The rat race for research funding delays scientific progress

The Rat Race for Research Funding Delays Scientific Progress

Opinion | The scramble to get academic research funded contributes to society’s inability to handle issues such as climate change.

undark.org

EXCERPTS: Academic scientists [...] use climate science as a hook to fund projects [only] tangentially related to helping solve climate change ...They not only draw dollars away from finding a solution, they set the tone for other sectors — like Congress, industry, and technological development — to perpetuate climate delay, as well.

[...] Beyond the academy, funding is also being used in ways that obscure inaction and promote climate delay. So far in 2024, for instance, the United States has spent an estimated $50 billion responding to weather and climate disasters — but the Biden administration budgeted only $4.5 billion for climate research. Often, funds exacerbate climate destruction, as with the push for more computing power and data storage...

[...] This misdirection is no secret. ... The same trends can be seen in the private sector, specifically in climate-driven technology... (MORE - details)
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The new archaeology wars: How cancel culture and identity politics have corrupted science

The New Archaeology Wars: How Cancel Culture and Identity Politics Have Corrupted Science

This article explores the controversial debate surrounding repatriation laws and their impact on archaeological research. Dr. Elizabeth Weiss recounts her experiences facing academic censorship and professional retaliation after publishing a book critical of repatriation policies. She argues...

www.skeptic.com

EXCERPTS: [...] We also explored NAGPRA’s violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment with regard to the separation of church and state in requiring each review committee to have at least two traditional Indian religious leaders and thereby promoting a specific religion—traditional Indian religion—as a required component of the law.

Further violation of the First Amendment includes NAGPRA’s acceptance of creation myths, in the form of oral tradition, as evidence for cultural affiliation (i.e., the connection between a present tribe and past peoples) to support repatriation events. We also looked at how NAGPRA and repatriation ideology encourage censorship...

[...] Gonzalez informed me that he had already known about the cancellation attempt. What I didn’t know was that Gonzalez and Jacobs would become my biggest foes in what turned out to be the start of a campaign to cancel me...

[...] I decided the time had come to initiate legal action against the SJSU for their various retaliatory actions...

[...] This discriminatory action against women is far more common in anthropology now than you may think; Native American tribes believing in menstrual taboos will ban women who are menstruating from engaging in fieldwork, handling remains, and even eating with the rest of the crew. Many institutions, including UC Berkeley, condone this behavior.

[...] How did we get to a situation in which opposing the reburial of human remains is automatically deemed racist and can derail an anthropologist’s career? It’s about turning anthropology into an ideological battleground weighted in favor of victimhood and (often disproven by evidence) tribal identity—both political and social—rather than a scientific endeavor aimed at better understanding the past for the benefit of all humankind.

It doesn’t matter who is correct, it matters who gets to tell the story, with Native American narratives now considered expert testimony that cannot and must not be questioned... (MORE - details)
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Many contrarians dispute that cosmic inflation occurred. The evidence says otherwise.

If the Big Bang wasn't the first thing ever, what caused it?

Many contrarians dispute that cosmic inflation occurred. The evidence says otherwise.

bigthink.com

EXCERPTS: Inflation is well-validated by numerous independent observational tests, and would only be falsified by the data if we did detect these tensor modes, and they didn’t follow the precise spectrum predicted by inflation. And yet, you’d never know any of this by listening to the scientists associated with BICEP and the public-facing communication they’ve put out into the world. They continue to assert [...various items...]

[...] All of these assertions, to be blunt, are both incorrect and irresponsible. Worst of all, every single one of the scientists I’ve spoken to who has made these claims knows they’re incorrect. However, the claims are still advanced — including to the general public through popular treatments — by the very scientists who are running these experiments. There’s no kind way to couch it: if it isn’t self-deception, it’s utter intellectual dishonesty... (MORE - details)
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Should we publish fewer papers? (editorial)

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsenergylett.4c01991

EXCERPTS: Should we all publish fewer papers? By this proposition, I am not advocating that we all “slack off”, but rather that we work harder to make sure we publish fewer but higher quality papers with new and significant scientific insights instead of reporting routine or incremental studies in large numbers of papers.

[...] Alarmingly, some research manuscripts must have been reviewed by using such AI tools already. Then, some of us are probably relying on AI to summarize research papers so that we can read more papers faster...

[...] It is also quite curious why so many new academic research journals keep popping up every week? As a journal editor myself, I still could not keep up with the dizzying pace of announcements for new journals and cannot make sense out of all of these....

[...] With the proliferation of new journals, a manuscript can bounce between more and more different journals for repeated resubmissions, which means more editors and reviewers will need to evaluate the same research work over and over again as voluntary service. This undoubtedly contributes to the increased workload for all academic researchers but results in very little real benefit for the community as a whole. Every paper written eventually gets published in some journal, so the fewer rounds of submission it has to go through, the less work for the whole community. This issue of journal proliferation is also related to the issue of having more papers... (MORE - details)
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RELATED POST: The political preferences of LLMs
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video link: Is the AI left-bias real? (Sabine Hossenfelder)

VIDEO EXCERPTS: A recent study has now tested the political orientation of all popular large language models. And it’s found some surprises. Let’s have a look.

[...] If you think that Musk’s Grok-bot will probably lean to the right as much as ChatGPT leans left, well, brace yourself.

The new study comes from David Rozado from New Zealand. He looked at 24 large language models including GPT, Claude, Gemini, Meta’s Llama and Grok. He put them through a series of political orientation tests, creating what is most comprehensive study of AI politics to date.

[...] The one hanging out into the right side, no, that’s not Grok, that’s Perplexity. And the one on the liberal end? That’s Grok in fun mode.

[...] The AI models all trend into the social democrat and left liberal corner. And the most extreme one is – again – Grok in funny mode.

[...] So as you can see from these results for the Large Language Models, they very systematically trend towards a particular side of the political spectrum, that’s left liberal.

[...] One possible explanation is a bias in the training set. Maybe the left liberals just write more so that their opinions get more reinforced. Another possible explanation is that the models have guidelines to produce unoffensive output, and by my impression the political left tends to be more touchy about language use in general,because the world has no bigger problems than pronouns...

 

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A Skeptical guide to glyphosate: Toolkit for ten common claims

A Skeptical Guide to Glyphosate: Toolkit for Ten Common Claims | Skeptical Inquirer

Agricultural advances have made farming and our foods safer and more abundant than at any other time in history. Everyone wants safe food and sustainable fa ...

skepticalinquirer.org

EXCERPT: Modern agriculture seeks to fill gaps in food security, reinforcing and improving human health. A new eye on sustainability welcomes new (and occasionally old) technology to make land use more efficient and lessen environmental impact. With intrinsic concerns of health, safety, environmental stewardship, and farmers’ economic sustainability, glyphosate has met these goals for five decades. While there is insufficient evidence of health impacts at current exposures, use has been and will continue to be monitored closely. Ongoing research should continue to be alert for any actual risk, perhaps in certain population segments. As of the writing of this article, glyphosate remains useful for farmers to ensure productivity, affordability, and stability of food crops. Although it remains a political target, our job as a scientific and skeptical community is to continue to evaluate claims for veracity and clearly communicate actual risk and benefits to the public. (MORE - details)

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Should we knock science off of its pedestal?

Should we knock science off of its pedestal?

The credibility we lend to science and scientists should not obviate the need for criticism.

www.sequencermag.com

EXCERPT: As research grants feed the "publish or perish" engine driving modern science, a researcher's priorities can too easily become more papers, more students, better papers, a better name. Those priorities can elevate a person's profile for accomplishing wonderful work. (Not inherently bad!!) However, they generally only do so by propping up a world run by "high-impact" academic journals and scientists who are no less flawed than you or me.

It's natural to trust the names of scientists, journals, universities, and labs that we recognize more. It's also natural to underestimate that bias. The credibility we lend to science and scientists should not obviate the need for criticism. Prestige-forward science gets us into trouble because too few people understand what science really is. (MORE - details)
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Apparently because the APA now endorses or embraces decolonization of science.
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Why I have resigned from the American Psychological Association (Gregg Henriques)

Why I have Resigned from the American Psychological Association

What is psychology? Is it a science that attempts to describe and explain animal and human behavior? Is it a profession that is structured…

medium.com

EXCERPTS: Although I was an APA Fellow in the past, I have resigned my membership from the American Psychological Association. I cannot align with either its vision of “science” or its vision of antiracist activism, and I especially reject the way the organization ideologically blends the two, as if there was no conflict or tension between them.

[...] One of the major claims of the lead article is that the authors are in a privileged place to define what is meant by science. They inform us that what has traditionally been called “good science” is an epistemology developed by White supremacists from a colonizing Europe. No longer. They understand how to bring a multiplicity of epistemologies together so that no one is marginalized (except, perhaps, for the old white positivists). They go on to inform us that from this enlightened perspective of many different voices, we will all be able to see the truth much more clearly... (MORE - details)
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Journal retracts article for plagiarized images after trying to gag researcher who complained
https://retractionwatch.com/2024/08...fter-trying-to-gag-researcher-who-complained/

The journal Cureus retracted an article for plagiarized images after questioning the motives of the researcher who said her images were taken.

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Sleuths spur cleanup at journal with nearly 140 retractions and counting
https://retractionwatch.com/2024/08...nal-with-nearly-140-retractions-and-counting/

A journal that lost its impact factor in June is in the midst of a cleanup operation, issuing nearly 140 retractions so far this year.

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Exclusive: Biochemistry journal retracts 25 papers for ‘systematic manipulation’ of peer review

Exclusive: Biochemistry journal retracts 25 papers for ‘systematic manipulation’ of peer review

A journal of the UK-based Biochemical Society is retracting 25 papers after finding “systematic manipulation of our peer-review and publication processes by multiple individuals,” according to a st…

retractionwatch.com

A journal of the UK-based Biochemical Society is retracting 25 papers after finding “systematic manipulation of our peer-review and publication processes by multiple individuals...”

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‘Coding’ errors prompt retraction of paper on long COVID in kids
https://retractionwatch.com/2024/08...pt-retraction-of-paper-on-long-covid-in-kids/

JAMA Pediatrics has retracted a controversial 2023 paper on the incidence of long COVID in children after the authors discovered a raft of “coding” errors in their analysis that greatly underestimated the risk of the condition.

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“Deceit, delusion, and a classic medical fraud”: An excerpt from a new book about a cancer treatment hoax
https://retractionwatch.com/2024/08...rom-a-new-book-about-a-cancer-treatment-hoax/

It is a story that resonates with the present: A 1950s cancer treatment hoax that showed "charges of conspiracy, elitism, and un-Americanism directed against the educational, scientific, and medical establishment are nothing new; neither is uncritical news coverage of what turns out to be quackery."

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Faked heart papers retracted following Ohio State investigation

Faked heart papers retracted following Ohio State investigation

A physiology journal has retracted two papers after an institutional investigation found a heart researcher falsified data and figures in the articles. A committee at the Ohio State University foun…

retractionwatch.com

A physiology journal has retracted two papers after an institutional investigation found a heart researcher falsified data and figures in the articles.
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A scientific perspective on the patriarchy

A Scientific Perspective on the Patriarchy: The Gender Pay Gap and Unequal Opportunity

New research challenges common assumptions about the gender pay gap and women’s career advancement. This article examines economic studies revealing how factors like career choices, work hours, and job preferences contribute to wage disparities between men and women. It explores the...

www.skeptic.com

EXCERPTS: Do we live in a patriarchy? Does toxic masculinity permeate our society? Are they the reasons why women are paid less than men, and fewer women are working in STEM? There is a long-documented history of these differences, and they go deeper than you might think. Let’s consider some causal explanations. [...] Why is a scientific approach so important in this case? If political activists succeed in convincing the public that pay disparities between men and women are due to discrimination through an ominous patriarchy and toxic masculinity, not only will the data be ignored, but hardworking men will be discriminated against in favor of parity. I am not suggesting women should be discouraged from entering competitive fields; on the contrary, I am arguing for fairness. (MORE - details)
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Good luck with trying to stop the various offshoots and conspiracies of Critical Theory with science data, this late in the game. Science itself is being rebuilt by "social oppression ideology", which includes the decolonization ripple (not just the local or immediate administrative policies of institutes).

Like someone once said: If you want make a scientist's brains or critical thinking fall-out, just shout racism, sexism, and other machinations. By the time they finally wake up to what is re-designing how their own profession works, the frog has been boiled.

In contrast, religious fundamentalists are accordingly unable to prey on the left political bias of most people in the academic community. (Well, actually indigenous, Islamic, and other non-Eurocentric beliefs incrementally can, since they are infiltrating and influencing from the opposite side of the political spectrum. Contemporary anthropology is an example of deference to indigenous superstitions. Again, just utter the magic words -- the applicable form of social oppression -- if you want to disable _X_'s intellect.)

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Are Plants Conscious?

Are Plants Conscious? | Skeptical Inquirer

When scientific skeptics think of a purveyor of pseudoscience, they may visualize a somewhat socially awkward dude with a tinfoil hat. Oddly, however, somet ...

skepticalinquirer.org

EXCERPTS: Plant “neuroscientists” love to use words such as intelligence, cognition, and even feelings liberally, thus constantly underscoring the alleged similarities between plants and animals. But such words have rather specific meanings—especially in a scientific context—and those meanings can’t unilaterally be expanded at will just to score a rhetorical point.

[...] Plants are fascinating in part precisely because they are so different from animals. They display a remarkable range of behaviors, which involve internal and external signaling done via hormones and environmental receptors. But these mechanisms are not analogous to animal neurons, synapses, and the like.

[...] Feinberg and Mallatt concluded that the only living organisms that can be reliably said to have consciousness are vertebrates (including fish), arthropods (insects and crustaceans), and cephalopods (octopuses, squids, and the like). Not plants, fungi, or bacteria.

As Taiz and colleagues noted, there is nothing new here. The Romantics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries also ascribed feelings and intentionality to plants, in reaction to what they saw as the cold mechanistic philosophy of Descartes and later of the Enlightenment thinkers... (MORE - details)
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Plant consciousness and intelligence is yet another item that likely prospers under the multicultural diversification of science, where the latter must no longer be dominated by Western biases. What ancient tradition will become kosher next? Animism in general? (Hello, rocks.)

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This new TikTok conspiracy theory is dumb and dangerous

TikTok Conspiracy Theorists Are Convinced That Mpox Will Lead to a “Second Lockdown”

Mpox is a serious global health issue. But it’s nothing like the coronavirus.

slate.com

INTRO: A new public health rumor is making the rounds on TikTok. People are apparently worried that a “second lockdown” is imminent, this time caused by mpox (formerly known as monkeypox)—a virus in the pox family that causes fluid-filled blisters and can spread from person to person via close contact or sex. I cannot stress enough how unfounded this fear is... (MORE - details)
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Heh. Unlike Covid, you don't have to worry about any disease primarily transmitted by sex shutting down society. That's infringing on the secular, ideologically Sacred Cow territory of personal lifestyles. People could be dropping like flies or massively suffering, but the most the establishment would do is ramp up talk about practicing safe profligacy at daily meetup bars and multi-spousal swinger gatherings.
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[Magical Realist]

I once learned how to talk to my plants. But I quickly found out that all they wanted to talk about was water and sunlight.

 

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A new ‘AI scientist’ can write science papers without any human input. Here’s why that’s a problem

A new ‘AI scientist’ can write science papers without any human input. Here’s why that’s a problem

AI systems mass-producing cheap research would be bad news for an already struggling scientific ecosystem.

theconversation.com

EXCERPT: Science is fundamentally based on trust. Scientists emphasise the integrity of the scientific process so we can be confident our understanding of the world (and now, the world’s machines) is valid and improving. A scientific ecosystem where AI systems are key players raises fundamental questions about the meaning and value of this process, and what level of trust we should have in AI scientists. Is this the kind of scientific ecosystem we want? (MORE - details)

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(paper) Populism, research integrity, and trust. How science-related populist beliefs shape the relationship between ethical conduct and trust in scientists

Populism, Research Integrity, and Trust. How Science-Related Populist Beliefs Shape the Relationship Between Ethical Conduct and Trust in Scientists

Abstract. Science-related populism is often used to undermine public trust in science. Good scientific practice contributes to public trust in science, whe

academic.oup.com

ABSTRACT: Science-related populism is often used to undermine public trust in science. Good scientific practice contributes to public trust in science, whereas misconduct promotes public skepticism. Since research ethics are a vital part of research integrity, we argue that ethical misconduct potentially undermines trust in scientists, particularly among people with populist beliefs.

Drawing on a quota sample of German citizens (N = 1,321), the experimental study examines the influence of ethical conduct on trust in scientists, moderated by science-related populist beliefs. More specifically, we tested the influence of experimental deception (with and without debriefing) using a vignette design.

The results of our study showed that ethical misconduct is negatively associated with trust in scientists. In addition, the relationship between ethical misconduct and trust in scientists was influenced by both science-related populist beliefs and science literacy.

Although people with high science-related populist beliefs generally placed less trust in scientists, the negative effect was even more pronounced for people with low science-related populist beliefs. Our findings further revealed that ethical misconduct reduces trust in science among people with both low and high science literacy.

This demonstrates the importance of researchers transparently discussing and reflecting on ethical research conduct to promote trust in scientists.

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Pediatrics for hypocrites: AAP slams glyphosate, endorses 'gender-affirming' care for kids

Pediatrics For Hypocrites: AAP Slams Glyphosate, Endorses 'Gender-Affirming' Care for Kids

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns that pesticides are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that harm children. Absurdly, AAP also endorses the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones — treatments designed to disrupt a child’s endocrine system. It’s the latest example of a major...

www.acsh.org

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns that pesticides are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that harm children. Absurdly, AAP also endorses the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones — treatments designed to disrupt a child’s endocrine system. It’s the latest example of a major science institution promoting harmful, hypocritical nonsense.
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How a retracted paper affected the course of Alzheimer’s research

How a retracted paper affected the course of Alzheimer’s research (video)

In June 2024, a landmark Alzheimer's research paper was retracted due to fraud allegations. Did we waste billions of dollars and thousands of hours of scientists’ time? Maybe not. There are now two potentially helpful drugs on the market targeting the subject of the paper: amyloid beta. This...

www.eurekalert.org

In June 2024, a landmark Alzheimer's research paper was retracted due to fraud allegations. Did we waste billions of dollars and thousands of hours of scientists’ time? Maybe not. There are now two potentially helpful drugs on the market targeting the subject of the paper: amyloid beta. This video breaks down the amyloid-beta hypothesis, the fraud itself and where we go from here...

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Almost half of FDA-approved AI medical devices are not trained on real patient data

Almost half of FDA-approved AI medical devices are not trained on real patient data

Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have discovered that over half of FDA-authorized AI medical devices are not backed by clinical validation data. Based on these findings, the researchers developed a new validation standard, outlining definitions and the significance of clinical...

www.eurekalert.org

“Although AI device manufacturers boast of the credibility of their technology with FDA authorization, clearance does not mean that the devices have been properly evaluated for clinical effectiveness using real patient data,” said Chouffani El Fassi, who was first author on the paper. “With these findings, we hope to encourage the FDA and industry to boost the credibility of device authorization by conducting clinical validation studies on these technologies and making the results of such studies publicly available.”
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Researcher whose work was plagiarized haunted by impostor emails

Researcher whose work was plagiarized haunted by impostor emails

Sasan Sadrizadeh A researcher who posted on LinkedIn about a paper that plagiarized his work says he’s now the subject of an email campaign making false allegations about his articles. In July, we …

retractionwatch.com

A researcher who posted on LinkedIn about a paper that plagiarized his work says he’s now the subject of an email campaign making false allegations about his articles.

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First-time scientific sleuths prompt nine retractions for neurosurgery group

First-time scientific sleuths prompt nine retractions for neurosurgery group

René Aquarius Two Dutch researchers were preparing a review of preclinical animal models for hemorrhagic stroke last July when they stumbled across a disturbing pattern in the literature. Fir…

retractionwatch.com

Two Dutch researchers were preparing a review of preclinical animal models for hemorrhagic stroke last July when they stumbled across a disturbing pattern in the literature.

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Exclusive: Thousands of papers misidentify microscopes, in possible sign of misconduct

Exclusive: Thousands of papers misidentify microscopes, in possible sign of misconduct

via Richardson et al One in four papers on research involving scanning electron microscopy (SEM) misidentifies the specific instrument that was used, raising suspicions of misconduct, according to …

retractionwatch.com

One in four papers on research involving scanning electron microscopy (SEM) misidentifies the specific instrument that was used, raising suspicions of misconduct, according to a new study.

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A journal editor said he’d retract a paper for plagiarism. A year later, it hasn’t happened.

A journal editor said he’d retract a paper for plagiarism. A year later, it hasn’t happened.

Salvador Pineda In June of last year, Salvador Pineda received an email from a researcher at Zhejiang University in China informing him one of his articles had been plagiarized. The researcher poi…

retractionwatch.com

In June of last year, Salvador Pineda received an email from a researcher at Zhejiang University in China informing him one of his articles had been plagiarized. [...] Yet the article remains intact, more than a year later, with the publisher blaming the delay on staffing changes at the journal.
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Behavioral science needs to return to the basics

Behavioral Science Needs to Return to the Basics

In this thought-provoking piece, three behavioral scientists argue that the field has strayed from fundamental scientific principles in its pursuit of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) goals. They contend that an overreliance on "lived experience," poor measurement practices, and confusion...

www.skeptic.com

EXCERPTS: Over the past decade behavioral science, particularly psychology, has come under fire from critics for being fixated on progressive political ideology, most notably Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). The critics’ evidence is, unfortunately, quite strong. For example, a recent volume, Ideological and Political Bias in Psychology, recounts many incidents of scholarly censorship and personal attacks that a decade ago might have only been conceivable as satire. We believe that many problems plaguing contemporary behavioral science, especially for issues touching upon DEI, can best be understood, at their root, as a failure to adhere to basic scientific principles...

[...] DEI concepts contradict known findings about human cognition. The empirical bases for some DEI concepts contradict social scientific principles. Additionally, certain DEI ideas run counter to important findings about human nature that scientists have established by following the required scientific principles. We discuss three examples below.... (MORE - details)
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