Perspective on honest brokers in science: Broadening conflicts of interest and role academies could play

Abstract

AbstractOver the last two decades, there has been a documented decline in public trust toward science. This evolution has often been attributed to the fast expansion of Internet, making it very easy to spread alternate viewpoints. In the present perspective piece, it is argued that the unethical behavior of some researchers also has fueled the public distrust toward science. In this context, a solution could come from creating publicly accessible registries that would provide all the information needed by the public to determine whether a given researcher could safely be presumed to be an ‘honest broker’, i.e. to act in a disinterested manner about particular issues being debated. In the development of such registries, academies would be particularly suited to provide oversight, since some of their senior members, by virtue of their retirement from active duty, meet many of the conditions to effectively be honest brokers.