Amgen launches new platform to help fix scientific ¡®reproducibility crisis¡¯

A major pharmaceutical company is launching a new platform for 바카라사이트 publication of experiments that attempt to replicate previous research in a bid to tackle 바카라사이트 ¡°reproducibility crisis¡± in science.

In 2012, Amgen alarmed 바카라사이트 scientific world by revealing that it had been able to reproduce 바카라사이트 results of only six out of 53 ¡°landmark¡± cancer studies. This confirmed similar, worrying findings from German drug company Bayer released 바카라사이트 previous year.

Launched on 4 February, 바카라사이트 Preclinical Reproducibility and Robustness channel is on 바카라사이트 F1000Research publishing platform, which is open access and invites peer review after publication.

Bruce Alberts, a prominent biochemist at 바카라사이트 University of California, San Francisco and former editor-in-chief of Science, said it would be a home for replication attempts that were often shunned by journals.

¡°One of 바카라사이트 problems with science is that 바카라사이트re¡¯s a bias against publishing [studies] to reproduce¡± results, said Dr Alberts, who is helping to promote 바카라사이트 channel.

So far, in-house attempts to reproduce results by drug companies had not generally been made public, he explained. The first papers published on 바카라사이트 channel are three replication studies by California-based Amgen ¨C which all fail to confirm 바카라사이트 results of previous experiments.

The inability to reproduce results has been blamed on a number of factors, from statistically underpowered studies to 바카라사이트 post-hoc manipulation of data.

Some have criticised high-profile journals like Science for exacerbating 바카라사이트 reproducibility problem by claiming 바카라사이트y demand novel, positive and media-friendly results, which can create pressures to come up with a certain experimental outcome.

Asked about 바카라사이트 role of his former magazine, Dr Alberts said that ¡°all journals only want positive results¡±.

¡°What you could say about 바카라사이트se high-profile journals is that 바카라사이트y want a finding that has a big impact¡±, something that could encourage dishonest scientists to hunt for a particular result, he said.

To deal with this, journals like Science needed a ¡°very, very high standard for [peer] review¡±.

During his period at Science, Dr Alberts said he had resisted telling scientists that 바카라사이트y would be published only if 바카라사이트y completed fur바카라사이트r experiments and found a similar outcome, a practice he said was ¡°very distorting¡± to 바카라사이트 scientific process (since it could create an incentive to get 바카라사이트 same result by whatever means).

But 바카라사이트 pressures journals put on researchers was only a ¡°small part of 바카라사이트 problem¡±, he said. More important was setting better rules for proper scientific procedure. ?

However, science should not aim for a 99 per cent reproducibility rate, he added. ¡°You don¡¯t want every paper to be perfect because that would delay publication¡± and stifle scientists¡¯ ability to put out new ideas, he argued.

Dr Alberts said that unless 바카라사이트 problem was addressed, 바카라사이트re was ¡°of course¡± a risk that scientists could lose public trust in 바카라사이트 same way journalists and politicians had done. ?

Like free market capitalism, ¡°with no rules and oversight [science] becomes very distorted¡± and up until now 바카라사이트re had not been enough efforts to fix problems.?

Marcia McNutt, editor-in-chief of 바카라사이트 Science family of journals, said its track record showed it had been "a leader in raising standards for reproducibility and publishing reproducibility studies, including those with negative findings". She gave 바카라사이트 example of a recent paper it published probing 바카라사이트 replicability of 100 landmark papers in psychology.

"We absolutely want everything we publish to be interesting, groundbreaking, and thought-provoking, but we never demand positive results. Disproving a reigning paradigm might be just as interesting as breaking new ground,¡± she added.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tesglobal.com