BOGUS SCIENCE….The Chronicle of Higher Education provides us with the seven warning signs of bogus science. Here’s the list:
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The discoverer pitches the claim directly to the media.
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The discoverer says that a powerful establishment is trying to suppress his or her work.
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The scientific effect involved is always at the very limit of detection.
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Evidence for a discovery is anecdotal.
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The discoverer says a belief is credible because it has endured for centuries.
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The discoverer has worked in isolation.
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The discoverer must propose new laws of nature to explain an observation.
The whole article is absolutely spot on. In particular, pay attention to point #1: if a scientific result isn’t announced at a legitimate conference or published in a peer-reviewed journal, just forget about it. It’s bogus. There are really no exceptions to this rule.
(Note, however, that the opposite isn’t true: publication in a peer reviewed journal doesn’t guarantee that something is right. It probably means it’s not the work of charlatans, but it still might be wrong.)
