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orathaic (1009

)
27 Jun 12 UTC

Open Science

Discuss:
http://www.nature.com/news/open-your-minds-and-share-your-results-1.10895

Poozer (962 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

I'd love to see science performed more openly. Though I think that Nature should step up to the plate and start offering their journal articles for free. Many school libraries can no longer afford the surging costs of digital subscriptions and shrinking budgets... that should be the first step, in my opinion.

redhouse1938 (429 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

I completely agree with Prof. Boulton, with the side note that even raw data can be manipulated or generated and I like how he includes the meta-data as part of what should be opened.
Another important aspect of openness is that scientists reveal who payed their research. This seems particularly important in such areas of medicine.

redhouse1938 (429 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

*as medicine.

Poozer (962 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

Indeed, we get talks here at the hospital and you realize halfway through that the person founded the company he's talking about and you just have to take a step back and reconsider everything you've just heard.

People are really awful about disclosures, its unfortunate.

redhouse1938 (429 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

Openness also adds to credibility. I'm more willing to trust someone who just says "here's my data" than someone who doesn't. Same for the payments. I'm perfectly happy to believe a paper about the workings of a drug if it honestly mentions the drug maker payed the scientist's research. I don't see how this could be controversial.

Poozer (962 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

The problem with the drug maker scenario is so often when a study paid for by a drug company shows that the drug had negative effects, the study is never released to the public in any way shape or form.

orathaic (1009 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

Is there a way to ensure all studies are published even if they have negative/null results? Thus avoiding the selection bias of only publishing successul studies...

I'd mostly be guessing this is not easy within a capitalist system...

redhouse1938 (429 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

Also, it's not strictly necessary. Some doctors just do research on drugs they want to test for a disease they're investigating and don't need / want the industry's help. It's rare, but it happens.

Pete U (293 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

@orathaic - I've seen one proposal that requires all clinical trials to be registered at the start (including what the hypothesised benefit is), and that requires all data generated to be shared, even if the trial is unsuccessful. It means negative outcomes are recorded, and stops the trial being appropriated to solve a different problem than that was expected (and one the trial was not designed to assess)

orathaic (1009 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

@pete U, surely part of the benefit of open data is allowing it be used to further research... So if a trial indicates some extra effects which may be beneficial then awesome! (even if the desired effect doesn't work out)

Pete U (293 )
27 Jun 12 UTC

Sorry - for clarity, there is ample of evidence of a drug test being for one thing, and a secondary result being claimed as the end result of the study. If they want to verify the secondary result, a further trial to verify that is the right way forward.

11 replies

abgemacht (1076

)
27 Jun 12 UTC

Truck Update

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice on trucks. I bought a 2000 Ranger a little over a week ago and I love it! As thanks, here's a video of a kid being really stupid with his ranger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEfnfOfbsi4

1 reply