10. Closing plenary
Date and time: Friday, 25 June 2021 3.00pm (BST)
Closing plenary: Meeting the challenges of publishing in a world of politicised science
Science entails the systematic observational or experimental study of facts or truths in order to advance knowledge and lead to innovation. However, science is increasingly under attack – reputable findings are accused of being fake or flawed and ultimately discredited, whilst ‘fake news’ continues to grow.
Editors play a vital role in safeguarding scientific integrity and quality by ensuring completeness of methods, enabling reproducibility of findings and guaranteeing that conclusions drawn are based on findings presented in a transparent and understandable manner. They also have a responsibility to ensure that a diversity of opinions is published to avoid bias and to strive for the SDGs. However editors working in politicised areas such as environmental policy can find themselves pressured to promote certain viewpoints and even to give space to biased research; and they may spend considerable time defending their judgements against political or social attacks.
Speakers in this final session will discuss the challenges editors face in a world of politicised science and will discuss the responsibilities of editors for sustaining transparency, trust, and credibility in such circumstances.
Chair: Domhnall MacAuley, associate editor with the Canadian Medical Association Journal
Domhnall MacAuley is a medical journal editorial consultant and an associate editor with the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Trained in three medical specialties, general practice, public health and, sport and exercise medicine, he was previously professor of primary care (research) at Ulster University. He has been a senior editor in three of the world’s top ten general medical journals (BMJ, PLOS Medicine, CMAJ), editor in chief of two leading specialist medical journals (Br J Sports Med, BJGP), and an advisor or on the editorial board of many other international medical journals.
Twitter: @domhnallmaca
Speakers:
Paul Graham Fisher, Associate Editor for the Journal of Pediatrics, at Stanford University
Dr. Paul Graham Fisher is Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics, and by courtesy, Neurosurgery, Epidemiology, and Human Biology; the Beirne Family Professor of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology; and the Dunlevie Family University Fellow in Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. He is Senior Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs, Department of Neurology, at Stanford School of Medicine, and former Chair of Human Biology in the School of Humanities and Sciences.
Following his BA, with Distinction, in Human Biology from Stanford University and then his MD at UCSF, Dr. Fisher completed residencies in pediatrics and neurology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and then a fellowship in neuro-oncology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Johns Hopkins. Dr. Fisher has been on the faculty at Stanford University since 1997, and he has authored over 300 scholarly publications on brain tumors and other neurology topics. He is an Associate Editor for The Journal of Pediatrics, and serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Clinical Oncology and Journal of Neuro-Oncology. He was recently elected to the COPE Council of the Committee on Publication Ethics. Within the realm of scholarly publishing, he is particularly interested in plagiarism and the intrusion of politics into science.
Ana Marusic, Professor of Anatomy and Chair of the Department of Research in Biomedicine and Health at the University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia.
Dr Marušić is Professor of Anatomy and Chair of the Department of Research in Biomedicine and Health at the University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia. She is an active member of the Croatian branch of the Cochrane Collaboration, Chair of the Board of the Croatian Institute of Global Health, and creator of the first Croatian public registry of clinical trials.
Apart from teaching anatomy, Prof. Marušić teaches university students the principles of research methodology and scientific communication in a mandatory undergraduate course. Prof. Marušić has been the editor in chief of the Croatian Medical Journal for more than 15 years, and is now editor in chief of the Journal of Global Health. She has been President of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and the Council of Science Editors (CSE) and is the outgoing Past President of EASE.
Twitter: @anamarusic
Aoife Foley – School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast and Editor in Chief of Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews.
Dr Aoife Foley is a Reader (Associate Professor) in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast and Editor in Chief of Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews. She also sits on the editorial board of other major journals in the field of energy, thermofluids and transport. Her research expertise covers wind power forecasting and integration, dynamic systems analysis, transport and energy market modelling, demand response using intelligent ICT, energy storage, electric vehicles, and battery modelling and drive cycle analysis. A key theme in her research is the interlinking of the 4 Es of Environmental protection, social Equity and Economics and Energy security. Aoife is also very interested in the global low carbon transition, smart cities and technology, and sustainable energy and transport systems in developed and developing economies.
Twitter: @AoifeMFoley
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