We want scientists to be paragons of objectivity. At the very least, we want them to tell us who’s paying their bills. But it turns out that in some fields of research, the norms about reporting financial conflicts of interest are all over the place. Scientists making big money from after-dinner speeches about their research often don’t think it’s at all relevant to disclose.
In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart look at the evidence on how funding affects the outcomes of scientific research—and discuss whether scientists need to be a lot more transparent about where their money comes from.
Show notes
2017 meta-analysis of the impact of funding source (for-profit vs. non-profit) on medical randomised trials
Tom’s Nature article on undisclosed financial conflicts in psychology research
New Angela Duckworth paper with no COI statement
Unconvincing ethics article on COI disclosures and public trust
Scientist declares his membership of the Scottish Socialist Party in an article about Margaret Thatcher
Ioannidis article on conflicts of interest in nutrition research
Credits
The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions.
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