Lesson 4. Be a critical thinker
When searching for information, whether to write a report for a lab, an essay for a assignment, or even more importantly, when answering a client's question as a health professional, it is important to review the information you find with a critical mind. This is especially important for the information freely accessible on the Internet.
The following examples highlight some of the recent controversies in the academic publishing community. The objective of this lesson is to make you aware of the importance of keeping an open mind, even when reading scholarly articles.
Korean scientist fakes stem cell data in article published in Science
"Hwang Woo-Suk is a South Korean biomedical scientist. He was a professor at Seoul National University (dismissed on March 20, 2006) who rose to fame after claiming a series of remarkable breakthroughs in the field of stem cell research. Until November 2005, he was considered one of the pioneering experts in the field of stem cell research, best known for two articles published in the journal Science in 2004 and 2005 where he fraudulently reported to have succeeded in creating human embryonic stem cells by cloning. Both papers have been editorially retracted after being found to contain a large amount of fabricated data. He has admitted to various lies and frauds. On May 12, 2006, Hwang was indicted on embezzlement and bioethics law violations linked to faked stem cell research." (Hwang Woo-Suk, Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwang_Woo-Suk)
Science provides an online collection of information relevant to the scandal, including the editorial retraction and news coverage.
Activities: Read the NYTimes article which discusses the limitations of the peer review process
Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) fires its two top editors
An important contribution of an academic journal's editorial board is the assurance that the selection of articles to be published is free of bias or outside influences, including those from the journal publisher. In February 2006, the CMAJ, one of Canada's leading medical journals, fired its editor-in-chief, John Hoey, M.D. and the senior deputy director Anne Marie Todkill due to "irreconcilable differences". This action was followed by the resignation of a large proportion of its editorial staff. According to Dr. Hoey, the main "irreconcilable difference" was the publishing of an investigative article which highlighted the difficulties women were receiving from pharmacists when requesting an emergency contraceptive drug.
Dr. John Hoey's personal statement titled "Editorial Independence and the Canadian Medical Association Journal" was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on May 11, 2006.
The following article outlines the changes at CMAJ which have occured since the controversy began. "Turning the Page at CMAJ". 2006. New England Journal of Medicine, 355 (6): 547.