A final bit of superb reporting from Paul D. Thacker at Environmental Science & Technology before he heads to a new job.
It’s about conflicts of interest in the science publishing world:
As environmental journals publish more controversial papers on topics such as human health and global warming, they are beginning to face a serious issue that medical journals have long been dealing with — conflict of interest. Although disclosure policies are standard in the medical community, publishers of environmental research have been slow to adopt such guidelines.
There are some truly eye-opening case studies in the piece. It’s a little unsettling that the scientific process is as much subject to big-money gaming as politics. Perhaps science is becoming a continuation of politics by other means. Or is it the other way around?
This one is a must-read.
