Curing Science Community

  Criticism against science and technology by the general public has been increasing in recent years. While climategate and medical research are probably the most prominent ones in this issue overseas, Japan's greatest skepticism against scientists and engineers after the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami event includes the safety of nuclear plants, radiation health/prevention research, and the risk/uncertainty of earthquakes and tsunamis over the next few years. Are science and technology communities functioning properly to reflect a diversity of ideas on their peer-reviewed journals? In other word, is the peer-review system sound in each community?

  There is a new system called CrossMark which might help science community self-correct. Read the 22 May 2012 issue of Physics Today:

http://www.physicstoday.org/daily_edition/science_and_the_media/retractions_of_scientific_papers-and_the_lack_of_retractions-draw_international_media_attention?type=PTPICKS

Shuji

Posted on Wednesday 23 May 2012