Episode 61: Conflict of interest

Episode 61: Conflict of interest

Author: Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie January 7, 2025 Duration: 1:07:21

We want scientists to be paragons of objectivity. At the very least, we want them to tell us who’s paying their bills. But it turns out that in some fields of research, the norms about reporting financial conflicts of interest are all over the place. Scientists making big money from after-dinner speeches about their research often don’t think it’s at all relevant to disclose.

In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart look at the evidence on how funding affects the outcomes of scientific research—and discuss whether scientists need to be a lot more transparent about where their money comes from.

Show notes

* 2017 meta-analysis of the impact of funding source (for-profit vs. non-profit) on medical randomised trials

* Tom’s Nature article on undisclosed financial conflicts in psychology research

* New Angela Duckworth paper with no COI statement

* Unconvincing ethics article on COI disclosures and public trust

* Scientist declares his membership of the Scottish Socialist Party in an article about Margaret Thatcher

* Ioannidis article on conflicts of interest in nutrition research

Credits

The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.com/subscribe

Every week, Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie pull apart the biggest arguments and most confusing claims making headlines. Science Fictions isn't just about celebrating breakthroughs; it's a necessary dive into the messy, contested, and often surprising realities of how science actually works. You'll hear them unpack heated debates, examine questionable studies, and explore why even solid research can sometimes lead to public confusion. This podcast serves as a guide through the noise, separating compelling evidence from overblown narratives. Each episode feels like a conversation with two deeply informed friends who aren't afraid to ask tough questions, offering clarity on topics that matter. For anyone curious about the stories behind the science headlines, this is an essential listen. Tune in for thoughtful analysis that goes beyond the press release, grounded in a genuine fascination with how we know what we know.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Science Fictions
Podcast Episodes
Episode 36: Vitamin D [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:21
Preventing cancer. Curing depression. Single-handedly ending the COVID-19 pandemic. Oh, and something to do with your bones. Is there anything Vitamin D can’t do?Maybe the answer is: “quite a lot”. In this episode of The…
Episode 35: The loneliness epidemic [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:48
We can all agree that being lonely is bad. But apparently, science shows it’s really, really bad. Indeed, being lonely is so dangerous to your health that its equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. And it gets worse:…
Paid-only Episode 7: Youth gender medicine & the Cass Review [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:41
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.comThe evidence for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for young people with gender dysphoria is “remarkably weak”. That’s ac…
Episode 34: Does depression exist? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:54
Several previous episodes of The Studies Show have covered depression and treatments for it, but none have really considered what depression is. It’s time to do that. It turns out that some scientists have made serious c…
Episode 33: Probability (and Tom's new book) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:12
Everything is Predictable: How Bayes' Remarkable Theorem Explains the World. That’s the new book—out on April 25 in the UK and May 7 in the US—by our very own Tom Chivers!In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stua…
Episode 32: Microplastics [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:30
Microplastics are everywhere: there are teeny-tiny plastic particles in your drinking water, your food, your air - and perhaps even in your internal organs. How worried should you be?In this episode of The Studies Show,…
Studies Show Short 1: Emotional Intelligence [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:33
As an extra way of thanking our paid subscribers, we’re going to post some shorter episodes in addition to the usual weekly hour-long ones.This first short episode (available to everyone for free; after this they’re paid…
Paid-only Episode 6: Bicycle helmets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:06
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sciencefictionspod.substack.comMost people think it’s obvious that you should wear a helmet when cycling. It might save your life if you fall off and hit your…
Episode 31: The trouble with meta-analysis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:35
We all love to cite meta-analyses. They’re the review studies where scientists take every single piece of research ever published on a particular question, and then calculate the overall “true” effect across all of them.…

«1...678910