What should the ethical protections be in cluster trials?
This week I was delighted to listen in to a consensus conference of researchers, ethicists, editors and other interested parties, aiming to produce a set of guidelines for the ethical conduct and...
View ArticleObama’s bioethics commission reports on international research protections
A US standing Presidential Commission, asked to assure “that current rules for research participants protect people from harm or unethical treatment, domestically as well as internationally”, has...
View ArticleEnsuring Respect for the Donated Brains of Children
Source: Dierk Schaefer, Flickr Nature has reported on the tissue-bank shortage involving donations of brains from children1. An accompanying editorial highlights that the key to treatments for autism...
View ArticleSilent takedown of the pharma trials database…and more
Those of you with more than a passing interest in publication bias and other threats to the integrity of the research literature may have noticed the publication of a study in this week’s PLoS Medicine...
View ArticleCandid Corrections and Responsible Retractions: Lessons Learned from COPE 2012
Several PLoS staff attended the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) European Seminar 2012 in London on Friday 16th March. Not only was the theme of the day “Correcting the Literature”, something...
View ArticleScience Publishing and the Dual Use Dilemma
You may be familiar with the controversy over recent research conducted on H5N1 influenza. If you follow science news, it’s been hard to miss. Two papers, both of which report on the potential for H5N1...
View ArticleThe role of retractions in correcting the scientific literature
Last week PLOS Pathogens retracted an article published in 2006 that claimed to show the identification of a new gammaretrovirus XMRV, and its association with prostate cancer. This was a high profile...
View ArticleA transparent presentation of PLOS Pathogens retractions and PLOS policy
We are writing to clarify several issues that have been raised in blogs regarding the retraction of Urisman et al. 2006 [1] by PLOS Pathogens. PLOS Pathogens is a community journal and all of the...
View ArticleRestoring Invisible and Abandoned Trials: A Creative Approach to a Public...
Margaret A. Winker, MD, Senior Research Editor, PLOS Medicine, and Virginia Barbour, MD, Chief Editor, PLOS Medicine, on behalf of the PLOS Medicine Editors. Image Credit: Flickr Jenni C The power of...
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