Just What is Scientific Integrity?

“A current consensus about science by those deeply invested in the status quo does not necessarily equal the actual facts.”  Brad Dobeck (attorney).

This insightful summary raises an important question –how do we know that a scientific statement is accurate? The claim being published in a peer reviewed journal is no guarantee, the qualifications of the author are no guarantee, the vote of the scientific community is no guarantee, even how loudly the claimant is shouting is no guarantee.

Basically, every claim must be assessed on its own merits. See the AITSE “Bunk Detecting Principles” for ideas on how to do this. And then, we need to remember that scientific understanding changes as discoveries are made. In other words, what we thought was true yesterday may not be true tomorrow–at least with regard to science and medicine.