RE: [Know_Nukes] Mangano urges new studies of TMI health effects

["Stabin, Michael" <michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu>]

>I am biased against flat-earth theories...sometimes an apparent "bias,"

is simply the result of better understanding.



There is good and bad scientific thinking, that usually can be

objectively assessed. There are also biases, which may be personal,

professional, or of other varieties. An important mark of

professionalism is the ability to fight against one's biases when

reviewing the work of others. This is an issue that comes up for me

frequently as reviewer and associate editor for some journals. If

someone's work, who may be a competitor or may present an opposing bias,

is good enough for the peer reviewed literature, it must be treated

fairly. The only way that new paradigms replace old ones is when they

have their fair "day in court" and carry the day or are eventually

discarded as not correct. They should not be barred from publication

because they go against the prevailing point of view of the majority in

a particular discipline. I recall a clear exposition from the great

Henry Wagner of the Society of Nuclear Medicine about the passing

criteria for a new publication: 



Is it true? Is it new? Is it clear? Is it significant?





Mike



Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP

Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences

Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences

Vanderbilt University

1161 21st Avenue South

Nashville, TN 37232-2675

Phone (615) 343-0068

Fax   (615) 322-3764

Pager (615) 835-5153

e-mail     michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu

internet   www.doseinfo-radar.com



  

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