Science fiction.(IN BOX)(John P.A. Ioannidis' scientific research )

Foreign Policy, January, 2006

It is now scientifically proven that the vast majority of new scientific research is bunk. Or so claims John P.A. Ioannidis, a clinical epidemiologist who holds positions at the Tufts University School of Medicine and the University of Ioannina in Greece. Writing in the Public Library of Science Medicine, Ioannidis says, "It can be proven that most claimed research findings are false." For example, Ioannidis calculates that in his own field, epidemiology, only 1 in 5 studies is accurate. Likewise, three quarters of so-called miracle cures that arise out of small trials turn out not to be cures at all. Ioannidis blames small sample sizes, bias, and conflicts of interest--both financial and professional--for the large number of erroneous research findings.

His...

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