How science goes wrong
This week's Economist's cover story is "How science goes wrong", an overview of major problems in science today, including wrong results, irreproducible results, bad peer-review etc.
See also their editorial
Overall, it's a pretty damning verdict which rings depressingly true.
Great article! I find it
Great article! I find it interesting that the economists are worried about the efficiency of science. It reminds us that most of us are working on public money and are expected to deliver solutions that help people live better lives.
I did not like the mention of Nature and its sister journals in the article. To me, Nature et al. are one of the major drivers for overstated/oversold research. The authors make it sound as if Nature is taking a lead in doing something about this by making online space for more extensive methods sections. What a joke! Other, more serious journals have had more extensive methods sections since their inception. Are we witnessing a secret allegiance between these two British journals?
Maybe a significant part of
Maybe a significant part of the problem is that economists are now interested in science, due largely to the monetizable innovations born in the lab.
As the Notorious B.I.G once wisely stated: "Mo money, Mo problems."