Climate denial and the abuse of peer review

The Conversation

On 20 April 2010, a BP oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and creating the largest oil spill in history.

When President Obama sought to hold the corporation accountable by creating a $20 billion damage fund, this provoked Republican Congressman from Texas Joe Barton to issue a public apology.

An apology not to the people affected by the oil spill … but to BP.

In a peculiar inversion of ethics, Barton called the President’s measures a “ shakedown ”, finding it a “tragedy in the first proportion” that a corporation should be held accountable for the consequences of its actions.

What does a Congressman’s inverted morality have to do with climate denial?

Quite a bit.

In a similar inversion of normal practice, most climate deniers avoid scrutiny by sidestepping the peer-review process that is fundamental to science, instead posting their material in the internet or writing books.

Books may be impressively weighty, but remember that they are printed because a publisher thinks they can make money, not necessarily because the content has scientific value.

Fiction sells, even if dressed up as science .

During peer review, by contrast, commercial interests are removed from the publication decision because journals are often published by not-for-profit professional organisations. Even if private publishers are involved, they make their profit primarily via university subscriptions, and universities subscribe to journals based on their reputation, rather than based on individual publication decisions.

Very occasionally a contrarian paper does appear in a peer-reviewed journal, which segments of the internet and the media immediately hail as evidence against global warming or its human causes, as if a single paper somehow nullifies thousands of previous scientific findings.

What are we to make of that handful of contrarian papers? Do they make a legitimate if dissenting contribution to scientific knowledge?

In some cases, perhaps.

But in many other cases, troubling ethical questions arise from examination of the public record surrounding contrarian papers.

For example, in 2003 the reputable journal Climate Research published a paleoclimatological analysis that concluded, in flat contradiction to virtually all existing research, that the 20th century was probably not the warmest of the last millennium. This paper, partially funded by the American Petroleum Institute, attracted considerable public and political attention because it seemingly offered relief from the need to address climate change.

Journal Article Critique - News


Climate denial and the abuse of peer review

Although normally a peer-reviewed journal, in this instance the paper was accepted a few days after submission, in July 2007, in an especially ironic twist as the paper tried to cast doubt on the quality of peer review in climate research.



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Scholarly Journal Article Critique | Megan McLoda

This article is of applied and report research. It informs the reader the benefits of moving down to Panama and it also applies the article to actual real life subjects and gets their opinions on living there. It had primary and secondary sources, the primary being the first hand information from the people that live in Panama, the secondary being the information that was gathered on Panama’s economy.

The article discussed many benefits about moving down to Panama after you retire. It talked about how cheap the cost of living is, how amazing the health care is at a low cost, and it even mentioned that retirees do not have to pay property taxes for the first 20 years (which for some may mean they never have to pay property taxes). It also talked about how properties go for a lot less in Panama than they do in the United States, for example, a couple bought a 3,000 square foot house for $250,000 that would have cost them over $3 million in Miami. They did mention that it is not all fabulous. Some negatives about living down in Paradise is that once you live down there you start to see some of the cracks in paradise that you would not see by just visiting there for a week or two. The article mentioned that things move VERY slowly, you may not get a repairman to your house until days after he said he would be there, and also sometimes the electricity can be very spotty. Those were the only negatives that the article mentioned. The article was very good at mentioning the benefits of moving down to Panama but I feel that it could have mentioned more of the negatives. If I were thinking about moving down to Panama I would need and want to know more about things that are not so wonderful to decide if they are worth dealing with. One negative that I can think that should be added is the fact that if you move down there, you are leaving behind your children as well as your grandchildren, so you won’t see then as often as you would if you were living back home.

The articles data collection and analysis was very good. They talked to actual retirees that have moved down there from the United States. One couple talked about how the house they are able to go out a lot more than they ever would have in California.  They can go out for margaritas and a nice meal for only $20 for the both of them. I think it is important to get firsthand accounts on the topic you are discussing because that makes it even more real for the reader or audience.

This is a very meaningful study because it shows retirees as well as upcoming retirees that there are other options for them besides either retiring with minimal benefits and money or maybe not even retiring at all. It shows them that you are able to go live some place that is super beautiful but still be able to live like a king or queen.


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Annie Pettit :) RT : Tempted to begin critique with "This is largest percent of b.s. I've seen in refereed journal article. Congratulations


annmariastat Tempted to begin my article critique with "This is the largest percent of b.s. I've ever seen in a refereed journal article. Congratulations


Journal Article Critique - Bookshelf

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