Scientists Censor What They Study

(Via Chronicle of Higher Education)

Unwritten social and political rules affect what scientists in many fields study and publish, according to a paper published today in Science, and those constraints are even more prevalent than formal constraints, such as government or university regulations.

The paper is based on interviews with 41 researchers at top academic departments in fields such as neuroscience, drug and alcohol abuse, and molecular and cellular biology. ... Almost half of those interviewed said they felt constrained by formal controls, but the respondents said they felt even more affected by informal ones. Many of the scientists interviewed said they had found out their research was "forbidden knowledge" only after papers reporting their results had been published.

Posted by Tom on February 11, 2005