Transparency Audits for Science - Beyond Carrots - Everything Hertz Podcast Response Video
Channel: Saving Democracy dot ca
Date: 2021-04-08

Response video to Everything Hertz podcast coverage ( https://everythinghertz.com/129 ) of our Transparency audit initiative ( https://etiennelebel.com/cs/t-leaderboard/t-leaderboard.html ; original Twitter announcement: https://twitter.com/curatescience/status/1371927234899017731 ).  I address issues/concerns raised, mostly clarifying various misunderstandings and misconceptions about our T audits and corresponding public T leaderboard.

TL;DR Summary of Points Covered:
• Green OA (accepted, version-of-record) via a PREPRINT meets requirements
• Audit participation is 100% voluntary
• Transparency categories NOT unfair to certain fields given they are so basic & exemptions offered for edge cases
• We are actively soliciting vigorous criticism/feedback & will be doing additional open consultations (incl. open debate w/ live Q&A)
• We fully support CARROTS, but it's clear that they are NOT ENOUGH on their own (currently, 90%+ of published academic research is opaque https://curatescience.org/app/article/494#article-494-image-2 ;  even with random tax audits (1% coverage), still about 20% of US taxpayers cheat https://retractionwatch.com/2016/02/04/do-scientists-need-audits/ ,  and the STAKES in academic research are much HIGHER than for everyday average taxpayers )

URL to full email correspondence with Simone Schnall, which clearly shows that she was NOT coerced to participate in the author verification part of the audits: https://etiennelebel.com/documents/schnall-full-email-exchange-cs-t-audit-feb-2021.pdf 
(relevant Twitter thread where she twists things around, claiming she was coerced/"bullied"[sic]: https://twitter.com/curatescience/status/1380595801701892102 )

For the broader MOTIVATIONS behind conducting T audits, see my recent Jon Tennant Tribute Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8GpWHu-NcM

====GENERAL SAVING SCIENCE SHOW INFO====
Dr. Etienne LeBel bio: 
LeBel is a psychologist & independent meta-scientist who has contributed to raising transparency & replication standards in academia for more than 10 years.  He has published over 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles in internationally renowned journals, including the prestigious journal Science.  He is founder & lead of Curate Science, a nonprofit global initiative to verify & track the transparency and credibility of research (see etiennelebel.com and CurateScience.org for more details).  I'm motivated by (1) the ethical duty of intellectuals to report on matters of public concern & (2) the fact that properly functioning science is the best way to finding better treatments for cruel medical conditions like suicide, cancer, and Alzheimer’s, which have touched my family personally, and continue to afflict millions of people worldwide every year.

https://etiennelebel.com
https://twitter.com/eplebel
https://CurateScience.org
Media inquiries curatescience@gmail.com

Guiding diagram that visually depicts the environment in which professors/academic researchers typically operate: https://etiennelebel.com/documents/ss/broken-ecosystem-diagram-SS-logo-v2.png

Collection of peer-reviewed evidence of global & systemic problems w/ the TRANSPARENCY & REPRODUCIBILITY/REPLICABILITY of academic research: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QT74Ok8whWCKcyxIyherYfyoRnhtAuV_nYJBFOZHlns/edit# (also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis).

To be an impartial science watchdog/whistle blower, I'm required to be independent & self-funded. If you find value in our videos & support the cause of saving science, please support the show by making a one-time donation: https://www.paypal.me/etiennelebel
Or Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/etiennelebel

The Saving Science Show aims to:
► 1. Raise public awareness of academia's deeply broken academic system,
► 2. To raise  (& enforce) transparency standards at universities & government funding agencies, &
► 3. Change laws to ensure public access to publicly-funded research for the benefit of all.

#OpenScience #OpenAccess #replicationCrisis