Global cost of silencing science: editors and publishers have a duty to resist - The Lancet

This is an editorial in the New Zealand Medical Journal, reprinted in The Lancet.

"Internationally, the consequences are no less stark. Authoritarian regimes elsewhere see the USA as setting a precedent, finding in Trump’s agenda a justification to suppress dissent, censor scientific dialogue, and delegitimise independent inquiry. The undermining of scientific norms in the USA reverberates beyond its borders, threatening global scientific cooperation and weakening international efforts to address pressing health challenges such as pandemics, climate change, and health equity....This is a call for science grounded in ethical principles and dedicated to the service of humanity. Scientific research, especially in medicine and public health, is inherently intertwined with social justice. Silencing DEI initiatives, censoring climate science, and delegitimising minority researchers is not neutrality—it is complicity in perpetuating harm. Resistance is not without precedent. Past administrations that sought to control or defund scientific institutions were met with organised dissent. Whistleblowers, journal editors, and advocacy organisations have long served as guardians of scientific freedom. Today, that tradition must continue with renewed vigour. Editorial boards must uphold their independence. Universities and scientific bodies must defend faculty facing retribution. Policy makers must embed protections for scientific freedom into the legislative framework."