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Is this expert practising ethical behaviour?

Did Andrew Wakefield behave ethically when he published this study?

Other examples

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Sorry, that wasn’t the right answer

Wakefield had a conflict of interest in his litigation and testing businesses that was not revealed until long after his study was published – then retracted – by the medical journal The Lancet.

Do you want to know more?

If an expert has a conflict of interest about the issue or question that they’re working on, and they are not upfront about it, then we may not be able to trust the authority of their opinion. Check if an expert could personally benefit from the advice they’re giving. Interests could include financial gains or personal and political affiliations.

Here are some questions and tips that you should consider when you want to decide if an expert is ethically trustworthy. ¹

Experts who advise on policy should show awareness and sensitivity of the broader impacts of their advice.^{2, 3, 4, 5} Is the expert willing to engage with the public on these issues? Do they consider what is in the public’s interest when giving expert advice? Do they show sensitivity towards those who are in a position of social or economic disadvantage?
An expert’s political, social and religious views can influence the advice they give or opinion they share. Are they transparent about their possible conflicts of interests? ^{6, 7, 8, 9}
Look out for signs of dishonesty, which could include: plagiarism, faking experiments, cherry-picking data and statistics, and systematic misrepresentation of others’ work. Is there evidence that the expert has behaved dishonestly in the past? ^{10, 11}

Additional Resources

What’s wrong with epi stem i c tr espassing?
Ep iste mic trespassing and expert witn ess testimony
Epis te m ic n eighbors: trespassing and the range of expert authority
Twitter thread by N athan Ballantyne on epistemic trespassing.
Epistem ic Tr e spassing
What is pseudo s cience? Scientific American
Repu ta tion: what it is and why it matters
Defend ing Longino’s Social Epistemology
The Legiti macy of Pseudo-Expert Discourse in the Public Sphere

Well done – you were right!

Wakefield had a conflict of interest in his litigation and testing businesses that was not revealed until long after his study was published – then retracted – by the medical journal The Lancet.

Do you want to know more?

If an expert has a conflict of interest about the issue or question that they’re working on, and they are not upfront about it, then we may not be able to trust the authority of their opinion. Check if an expert could personally benefit from the advice they’re giving. Interests could include financial gains or personal and political affiliations.

Here are some questions and tips that you should consider when you want to decide if an expert is ethically trustworthy. ¹

Experts who advise on policy should show awareness and sensitivity of the broader impacts of their advice.2, 3, 4, 5 Is the expert willing to engage with the public on these issues? Do they consider what is in the public’s interest when giving expert advice? Do they show sensitivity towards those who are in a position of social or economic disadvantage?
An expert’s political, social and religious views can influence the advice they give or opinion they share. Are they transparent about their possible conflicts of interests? ^{6, 7, 8, 9}
Look out for signs of dishonesty, which could include: plagiarism, faking experiments, cherry-picking data and statistics, and systematic misrepresentation of others’ work. Is there evidence that the expert has behaved dishonestly in the past? ^{10, 11}

Additional Resources

What’s wrong with epistemic trespassing?
Epistemic trespassing and expert witness testimony
Epistemic neighbors: trespassing and the range of expert authority
Twitter thread by Nathan Ballantyne on epistemic trespassing.
Epistemic Trespassing
What is pseudoscience? Scientific American
Reputation: what it is and why it matters
Defending Longino’s Social Epistemology
The Legitimacy of Pseudo-Expert Discourse in the Public Sphere

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