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Misinformation: an empirical study with scientists and communicators during the COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVES: To study the experiences and views within the health science community regarding the spread and prevention of science misinformation within and beyond the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An exploratory study with an empirical ethics approach using qualitative interviews with A...

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Autores principales: Parker, Lisa, Byrne, Jennifer A, Goldwater, Micah, Enfield, Nick
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8749236/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35047703
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjos-2021-100188
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author Parker, Lisa
Byrne, Jennifer A
Goldwater, Micah
Enfield, Nick
author_facet Parker, Lisa
Byrne, Jennifer A
Goldwater, Micah
Enfield, Nick
author_sort Parker, Lisa
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: To study the experiences and views within the health science community regarding the spread and prevention of science misinformation within and beyond the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An exploratory study with an empirical ethics approach using qualitative interviews with Australians who produce, communicate and study health science research. RESULTS: Key elements that participants considered might facilitate misinformation included: the production of low-quality, fraudulent or biased science research; inadequate public access to high-quality research; insufficient public reading of high-quality research. Strategies to reduce or prevent misinformation could come from within the academic community, academic and lay media publishing systems, government funders and educators of the general public. Recommended solutions from within the scientific community included: rewarding research translation, encouraging standardised study design, increasing use of automated quality assessment tools, mandating study protocol registration, transparent peer review, facilitating wider use of open access and use of newer technologies to target public audiences. There was disagreement over whether preprints were part of the problem or part of the solution. CONCLUSIONS: There is concern from within the health science community about systemic failings that might facilitate the production and spread of false or misleading science information. We advocate for further research into ways to minimise the production and spread of misinformation about COVID-19 and other science crises in the future.
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spelling pubmed-87492362022-01-18 Misinformation: an empirical study with scientists and communicators during the COVID-19 pandemic Parker, Lisa Byrne, Jennifer A Goldwater, Micah Enfield, Nick BMJ Open Sci Original Research OBJECTIVES: To study the experiences and views within the health science community regarding the spread and prevention of science misinformation within and beyond the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An exploratory study with an empirical ethics approach using qualitative interviews with Australians who produce, communicate and study health science research. RESULTS: Key elements that participants considered might facilitate misinformation included: the production of low-quality, fraudulent or biased science research; inadequate public access to high-quality research; insufficient public reading of high-quality research. Strategies to reduce or prevent misinformation could come from within the academic community, academic and lay media publishing systems, government funders and educators of the general public. Recommended solutions from within the scientific community included: rewarding research translation, encouraging standardised study design, increasing use of automated quality assessment tools, mandating study protocol registration, transparent peer review, facilitating wider use of open access and use of newer technologies to target public audiences. There was disagreement over whether preprints were part of the problem or part of the solution. CONCLUSIONS: There is concern from within the health science community about systemic failings that might facilitate the production and spread of false or misleading science information. We advocate for further research into ways to minimise the production and spread of misinformation about COVID-19 and other science crises in the future. BMJ Publishing Group 2021-11-25 /pmc/articles/PMC8749236/ /pubmed/35047703 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjos-2021-100188 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Original Research
Parker, Lisa
Byrne, Jennifer A
Goldwater, Micah
Enfield, Nick
Misinformation: an empirical study with scientists and communicators during the COVID-19 pandemic
title Misinformation: an empirical study with scientists and communicators during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full Misinformation: an empirical study with scientists and communicators during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_fullStr Misinformation: an empirical study with scientists and communicators during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Misinformation: an empirical study with scientists and communicators during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_short Misinformation: an empirical study with scientists and communicators during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_sort misinformation: an empirical study with scientists and communicators during the covid-19 pandemic
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8749236/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35047703
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjos-2021-100188
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