Um ataque à autonomia universitária: processos contra autores

Notícia do blog White Coats que traz noticias da área médica de Boston. Um exemplo de atentado à autonomia universitária iniciar processos contra autores de artigos que vão contra o interesse de empresas ou de grupos. Aqui, assistimos a campanha contra uma pesquisa patrocinada pela FAPESP sobre uso de drogas e, outra pior, vinda de abaixo-assinado contra um projeto de pesquisa da UFRGS.

Autonomia universitária é a liberdade de pesquisar utilizando o que de melhor existir em termos de metodologia científica. Quem não gostar do resultado que mostre em outro momento como cartas, revisões e, novos estudos, o equívoco apresentado. Se autor e revistas forem levianos ao publicar "artigos difamatórios" perderão o único patrimônio acadêmico: a respeitabilidade.

Em tempo, autonomia universitário não deve ser confundida com o "direito" em não respeitar as leis do país ou não prestar contas do dinheiro gasto.

Posted by Elizabeth Cooney February 28, 2008 06:05 PM A Harvard physician has been sued by a manufacturer claiming its product was unfairly disparaged in a paper he wrote in a scientific journal, an unusual development in the world of scholarly publishing. Dr. Douglas P. Kiel, a gerontologist at Harvard Medical School and Hebrew Senior Life, wrote an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that said hip-protectors did not prevent fractures in nursing home patients. HipSaver Inc. of Canton, which makes hip protectors, filed a suit in Norfolk Superior Court Feb. 15 alleging that Kiel knowingly tested an inferior product and produced results that placed its version in a poor light. A story on the suit appeared in yesterday's Harvard Crimson. “It would have been more appropriate and scientifically accurate for Dr. Kiel to limit his conclusions to the specific hip protector that he studied,” HipSaver president Edward L. Goodwin said in a statement. “As it stands, his JAMA-published conclusions have wrongfully damaged the entire field of hip protection, including the HipSaver brand.” JAMA editors are not commenting on the suit, but stand by the study as published, a spokesman said. Kiel did not return a call from the Globe seeking comment, but Hebrew Senior Life is looking carefully at the charge before responding, spokeswoman Jennifer Davis said in an interview. “The research was published in one of the most prestigious and carefully vetted peer-reviewed journal published in the country,” she said. “Dr. Kiel is a very well respected and accomplished geriatric physician as well as researcher. So we certainly at this point feel we would do nothing other than support him completely in face of the complaint.”