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Press before paper—when media and science collide

Nature Biotechnology volume 21, pages 353–354 (2003)Cite this article

Since the UK Royal Society (London) published the first issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 16651, scientific journals have been the traditional means by which researchers publicly release their data. In recent years, however, media coverage of science before publication and the phenomenon of science by press release have become increasingly common mechanisms for the public dissemination of scientific information. I argue here that media coverage of scientific discoveries in the absence of corroboration in a peer-reviewed scientific paper not only compromises scientific discourse, but also acts perniciously on the public perception of science.

In no area of biology is the phenomenon of media release of science more evident and more damaging than in biotechnology. Several examples immediately come to mind where press-before-paper incidents have had deleterious and far-reaching consequences.

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  1. Racheff Chair of Excellence and Professor, Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Systems, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 37996, TN

    C. Neal Stewart Jr.

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  1. C. Neal Stewart Jr.
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Stewart, C. Press before paper—when media and science collide. Nat Biotechnol 21, 353–354 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0403-353

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