Science, like many other domains, is not immune to the influence of lobbyists in pursuit of results that further their agendas.  Fortunately, as reported in the Lancet, the US government is taking steps to advance scientific integrity on a policy level.

“The Biden administration is launching a new initiative on scientific integrity in federal agencies following multiple lapses. Just a week after Joe Biden was sworn in as president in January, 2021, he created a multi-agency Task Force on Scientific Integrity to restore “trust in government through scientific integrity and evidence-based policy making”. The COVID-19 pandemic was entering its second year, and bizarre theories flourished on social media about how the virus spread and how to treat it. Last month, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released A Framework for Federal Scientific Integrity and Practice, a follow-up to the task force’s 2022 recommendations that provides a blueprint for implementation. “This first-of-its-kind framework will strengthen the ability of agencies and federal scientists to produce critical scientific information for evidence-based policy making that can help make our nation healthier, safer, more prosperous, and more secure”, said a senior Biden administration official in a written statement.

The report establishes a federal definition of scientific integrity and explains why that matters. “Government science and scientific activities must be held to the highest standards of scientific integrity, free from inappropriate influence at all stages from development to dissemination”, according to the document’s introduction. A top priority must be “measures to prevent and address political interference in the conduct, management, communication or use of science”.”1

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References

  1. Jaffe, S. (2023). US plan to shield science from “inappropriate influence.” The Lancet, 401(10375), 422–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(23)00289-1

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