We shouldn’t take peer review as the ‘gold standard’
Why we shouldn’t take peer review as the ‘gold standard’
Democracy Dies in DarknessIt’s too easy for bad actors to exploit the process and mislead the public
White mouse in laboratory. (iStock)Perspective by   and Jon TennantAugust 1, 2019 at 5:10 p.m. EDTIn July, India’s government dismissed a research paper finding that the country’s economic growth had been overestimated, saying the paper had not been “peer reviewed.” At a conference for plastics engineers,
 an economist from an industry group dismissed environmental concerns about plastics by claiming that some of the underlying research was “not peer reviewed.” And the Trump administration — not exactly known for its fealty to science — attempted to reject a climate change report by stating, incorrectly, that it lacked peer review.
