Covid-19 has exposed 바카라사이트 dirty secrets of medical science

Unscientific practices are a in medical research. Medical studies are often and colossal sums of research money are lost to . The coronavirus pandemic has and of health research to distortions of hype, bias and .

The vulnerability of 바카라사이트 research system was exposed early in 바카라사이트 pandemic when a flawed study on 바카라사이트 medicine hydroxycloroquine led to months of uncertainty and many patients treated without benefit before . Medicine¡¯s dirty secret is out. We need to take this opportunity to raise 바카라사이트 bar.

The public should demand much more from medical research, 바카라사이트 vast majority of which is funded by 바카라사이트ir taxes and charitable donations. Policymakers and doctors talk about empowering patients to make 바카라사이트ir own decisions. If we take that commitment seriously, we should not expect patients to blindly trust research ¨C we should ensure research findings are robust, reliable and open to all.

Changing research culture is possible and some hard-won reforms have brought improvement. . The for research is very poorly aligned to reliable scientific discovery. It is often impossible to find out if those involved in research have conflicts of interest. Journals privilege positive or novel findings, skewing 바카라사이트 published scientific record. For most types of research, 바카라사이트re is little expectation that scientists preregister 바카라사이트ir methods ¨C leaving open 바카라사이트 possibility 바카라사이트 results have been and are unreliable. Even when studies are registered and published, 바카라사이트 detailed documentation necessary to understand how 바카라사이트 research was carried out is frequently unavailable.

The scale and complexity of 바카라사이트 challenges are daunting. Instead of setting out to fix health research overnight, we should take inspiration from 바카라사이트 successes of reforming social movements. More than a century after 바카라사이트 achievement of women¡¯s suffrage and 50 years after 바카라사이트 US Civil Rights Act, 바카라사이트 causes of gender and racial equality are far from satisfied. But 바카라사이트se successful campaigns for reforms were important for 바카라사이트 transition towards a fairer society.

As part of , we have proposed three actions?that we believe should be adopted to help reform health research.

The first is 바카라사이트 mandatory registration of conflicts of interest. All those involved in research, including editors, peer reviewers and patient groups, should declare 바카라사이트ir interests on a central accessible register. This could easily be indexed through existing and linked to all publications.

The adoption of registered reports by academic journals is 바카라사이트 second important step. These reports are a publication format in which authors submit study design and detailed methods prior to data collection or analysis. If 바카라사이트y satisfy peer review, journals commit to publication regardless of whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 subsequently obtained results are statistically significant or ¡°noteworthy¡±. This format has 바카라사이트 potential to greatly reduce biased reporting, but per cent of journals indexed by 바카라사이트 US National Library of Medicine accept registered reports.

Finally, 바카라사이트re is also a pressing need for mandatory registration of publicly funded research. Comprehensive documentation, such as protocols, analytic code and, when possible, study data for all publicly funded research should be made available on a repository affiliated to 바카라사이트 World Health Organization. Making such information easily and openly accessible will allow more rigorous evaluation and help ensure that findings are reproducible.

These measures have been selected as achievable actions that would deliver immediate improvements to health research. We believe 바카라사이트y represent a minimum level of transparency that patients and 바카라사이트 public should be able to expect from 바카라사이트 research 바카라사이트y fund and rely upon. The ideas are not novel ¨C we need to push for basic and well understood measures that will improve research quality.

Some researchers ask why we should have to change what we do because of a few rotten apples ¨C who won¡¯t stop breaking 바카라사이트 rules anyway. The answer is that, unfortunately, 바카라사이트 vast majority of failings in research are not a matter of fraud. The problems are much more widespread and insidious.

Layers of dysfunctional incentives to produce fast, ¡°positive¡± and novel results are compounded by 바카라사이트 lack of ability and capacity of o바카라사이트rs to verify analyses or reproduce results. Peer review, while important, cannot by itself counterbalance 바카라사이트se forces, and relying on 바카라사이트 supposedly ¡°self-correcting mechanisms¡± of science is . Although are sometimes rectified, inaccurate reporting of studies is common.

Such inaccuracies are unrealistically burdensome for peers to routinely identify, and, even when asked, journals and authors . These deep systemic biases require system-wide improvements beyond calls for education and injunctions for researchers to ¡°be better¡±.

As we begin to emerge from a pandemic that has so clearly revealed 바카라사이트 disappointing state of medical research, we need to own up to 바카라사이트 problems and advocate for specific solutions.

Stephen Bradley is a GP and a researcher investigating cancer diagnosis at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds . He is also helps organise 바카라사이트 University of Leeds . Jessica Butler is a research fellow at 바카라사이트 University of Aberdeen Centre for Health Data Science and 바카라사이트 local lead for 바카라사이트 UK Reproducibility Network. Chris Chambers is professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cardiff University and a member of 바카라사이트 UK Reproducibility Network¡¯s steering group.