Next steps after airing disagreement on a scientific issue with policy implications: a meta-analysis, multi-lab replication and adversarial collaboration

Abstract

AbstractCanadian policymakers are interested in determining whether farmed Atlantic salmon, frequently infected with Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV), may threaten wild salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest. A relevant work has been published in BMC Biology by Polinksi and colleagues, but their conclusion that PRV has a negligible impact on the energy expenditure and respiratory performance of sockeye salmon is disputed by Mordecai and colleagues, whose re-analysis is presented in a correspondence article. So, what is the true effect and what should follow this unresolved dispute? We suggest a ‘registered multi-lab replication with adversaries’.