AWMF unterstützt konsequente Initiativen gegen die Ausbreitung einer wissenschaftlichen Scheinwelt | Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften e.V.

Google English: "AWMF supports consistent initiatives against the spread of a scientific illusory world

Worthless research and dangerous pseudo-knowledge have long been of concern to medical science, yet the market seems to be spreading unhindered for its diffusion. The Association of Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF) sees this as a real threat to the penetration of knowledge from the serious science into the public and, consequently, a threat to the health of patients and citizens.

The Association of Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF) relies on antidotes such as the paradigm of evidence-based medicine, international initiatives to promote the quality of medical research, the guidelines of its 178 member societies as quality-assured information and on strengthening the health literacy of the population. 

The discussion about the diffusion of pseudo-knowledge, which has been critically pursued in medical science and the public for many years, has reached a new dimension. The trigger is the increasing spread of an academic illusory world - driven by so-called "predatory publishers", "pseudo-journals" and "pseudo-congresses", which pretend to be scientific, but fundamentally disregard the basic principles of science in favor of purely economic interests. The AWMF therefore calls for more awareness of the problem. "Medical science must step up its efforts to prevent, identify and label worthless, clearly interest-driven or pseudo-scientific research to prevent adverse consequences for healthcare and individual patients," says Professor Dr. med. Rolf Kreienberg, President of AWMF. "Suitable instruments for this are those that work on different levels," adds Professor Dr. med. med. Christoph Herrmann-Lingen, Chairman of the AWMF Research and Teaching Committee. These include the obligatory registration of clinical studies, the transparency of conflicts of interest, rules for transparent publication processes including a defined peer review process and the free availability of high-quality publications ("open access"). ..."