I have a PhD in Chemistry. In addition, conducting my own scientific research, yet when receiving the media, even I often need to ask myself. “Is this science or is it fiction?” There are many reasons why the science fiction story should not tell.
The Quacks and Charlatans have taken advantage of the complexities of science, some content providers cannot say well to bad science, and some politicians have abandoned fake science to support their positions. If science seems to be very true or very untrue, or very easily supports a controversial cause, you may want to test its authenticity. Here are six tips to help you identify fake science.
Scientists rely on journal papers to share their scientific findings. They let the world see what research has been done and how. Once researchers are confident about their results, they write a manuscript and send it to a journal. The editors submit the submitted manuscripts to at least two external referees who have expertise in the matter.
These reviewers may suggest rejecting the manuscript, such as publishing it or sending it back to scientists for further testing. This process called “peers review.” Studies published in peer-reviewed journals have taken strict quality control by experts. Each year, about 2,800 peer-reviewed journals publish about 1.8 million scientific articles.
The body of scientific knowledge is constantly evolving and updating but you can believe that what these journals describe as science is justified. Withdrawal policies help to correct the record if errors found after publication. How long does this work on the preprint server? If it has been a few months and it has not published in peer-reviewed literature yet, be very skeptical. Which scientists submitted the print from a reputed organization?
During the COVID-19 crisis, as researchers scrambled to understand a dangerous new virus and rushed to develop life-saving treatments, preprint servers bound by immature and unproven science. Intense research standards have abandoned for speed.
One last caveat: Beware of published research, which called Predatory Journal. They do not give manuscript review manuscripts and they charge a fee for authors to publish. The papers of any letter in the thousands of known predatory journals should treat with strict skepticism.
