Most scientific studies can be wrong, researchers say
| Jul 6, 2018, 17:32 IST
These days there are tons of research being conducted on all kinds of products. But now researchers say that not all studies can be trusted, mostly because the samples considered weren't large enough or the factors didn't add up. “The majority of papers that get published, even in serious journals, are pretty sloppy,” said John Ioannidis, professor of medicine at Stanford University. “Across biomedical science and beyond, scientists do not get trained sufficiently on statistics and on methodology,” he added.
“Diet is one of the most horrible areas of biomedical investigation,” he continued. “Measuring diet is extremely difficult,” he stressed. It is nearly impossible to identify how much of what a person consumes in a day. Everyone knows too much of anything isn't good for their health. So, on what factors really can people base their research?
The solution presented here is to collectively tighten the standards by all players in the research world, not just journals but also universities, public funding agencies. “We try to encourage a culture, an atmosphere where you are rewarded for being transparent,” said Ivan Oransky, co-founder of Retraction Watch.
“We’re talking mostly about the endless terrible studies on coffee, chocolate and red wine,” he said. “Why are we still writing about those? We have to stop with that.” Stay tuned for more updates.
“Diet is one of the most horrible areas of biomedical investigation,” he continued. “Measuring diet is extremely difficult,” he stressed. It is nearly impossible to identify how much of what a person consumes in a day. Everyone knows too much of anything isn't good for their health. So, on what factors really can people base their research?
The solution presented here is to collectively tighten the standards by all players in the research world, not just journals but also universities, public funding agencies. “We try to encourage a culture, an atmosphere where you are rewarded for being transparent,” said Ivan Oransky, co-founder of Retraction Watch.
“We’re talking mostly about the endless terrible studies on coffee, chocolate and red wine,” he said. “Why are we still writing about those? We have to stop with that.” Stay tuned for more updates.