Dear All,
My co-authors and I are pleased to announce our new publication:
Jaakkola, K., Bruck, J. N., Connor, R. C., Montgomery, S. H., & King, S.
L. (2020). Bias and misrepresentation of science undermines productive
discourse on animal welfare policy: A case study. /Animals, 10/, 118.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10071118
Abstract:
Reliable scientific knowledge is crucial for informing legislative,
regulatory, and policy decisions in a variety of areas. To that end,
scientific reviews of topical issues can be invaluable tools for
informing productive discourse and decision-making, assuming these
reviews represent the target body of scientific knowledge as completely,
accurately, and objectively as possible. Unfortunately, not all reviews
live up to this standard. As a case in point, Marino et al.’s review
regarding the welfare of killer whales in captivity contains
methodological flaws and misrepresentations of the scientific
literature, including problematic referencing, overinterpretation of the
data, misleading word choice, and biased argumentation. These errors and
misrepresentations undermine the authors’ conclusions and make it
impossible to determine the true state of knowledge of the relevant
issues. To achieve the goal of properly informing public discourse and
policy on this and other issues, it is imperative that scientists and
science communicators strive for higher standards of analysis,
argumentation, and objectivity, in order to clearly communicate what is
known, what is not known, what conclusions are supported by the data,
and where we are lacking the data necessary to draw reliable conclusions.
The paper is open access, available here:
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/7/1118
All the best,
Kelly
------------------ /
Kelly Jaakkola, PhD
Director of Research, Dolphin Research Center
Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee, Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks
and Aquariums
/
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