It's Time for Science to Take Down Bullies in Its Own Ranks

Academics too often use intellectual attainment to excuse abusive behavior. That needs to stop.

May 1, 2022

Scientific American

By Naomi Oreskes

"Early this year one of the world’s most prominent scientists, Eric Lander, had to resign his position as President Joe Biden’s science adviser and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He was forced to quit because of evidence that he had bullied staff members and created a hostile work environment. Lander, a leader in the successful effort to sequence the human genome, had headed the prestigious Broad Institute of Harvard and M.I.T. before being tapped for the White House job. He now joins the ranks of other top scientists who have been sanctioned over behavior ranging from disrespect and bullying to illegal sexual harassment."

Improving research integrity: a framework for responsible science communication

May 15, 2022

BMC Research Notes

By Ilinca I. Ciubotariu & Gundula Bosch

"Science has a credibility problem. The underlying issues are multi-factorial such as inadequate training in rigorous research methods, irreproducibility of results, logical fallacies and statistical mistakes during data analysis and interpretation, erroneous communication, sloppy literature outputs, and outright misconduct. The result is an ongoing pandemic of retractions. That in turn can undermine public confidence in research outcomes and transparent policy, along with societal factors such as geography or culture. It is of utmost importance to properly train the next generation of scientists and protect the integrity of the central principles of scientific inquiry and discovery.

This commentary discusses the role of institutional graduate programs in promoting good research practice through teaching the core values of reliable science, while at the same time, focusing on a framework for embracing responsible scientific communication."