Rapid, sweeping, and unprecedented changes in the research environment in the U.S. undermine scientific integrity and threaten human health in the immediate term, with the threat of mass layoffs and associated economic effects seemingly likely to soon follow. The associated loss of scientific talent and progress is nothing short of catastrophic, not just in the U.S. but for the global scientific community. It is hard not to feel hopeless in the face of such substantial challenges. <\/p>\n
First, we want to reassure you, our ASAPbio community, that we remain committed to our values<\/a>, even in the face of strong headwinds. Our second value in particular asserts our commitment to openness, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Science is stronger when it is diverse. We all lose a great deal by reverting to old practices that create hostile environments that keep researchers from marginalized backgrounds out of research. The ASAPbio community will remain a safe and inclusive space for all, regardless of race, gender, identity, or nationality. <\/p>\n Second, we want to address the pernicious consequences of censorship on the free flow of scientific information. On January 27, Science Insider reported<\/a> that intramural researchers working at the NIH \u2013 a group consisting of over 1,200 primary investigators and 4,000 postdoctoral researchers \u2013 are not currently permitted to share preprints of their research. Though this ban might seem trivial in the face of the larger changes that seem imminent at NIH and other agencies, we want to clearly state that a ban on preprints means a ban on the free flow of information from government scientists to the public. Preprints are the place to get science directly from the source, without interference from third parties. As long as the ban remains in place, the scientific community at large \u2013 and the public \u2013 stand to suffer. <\/p>\n We worry that this preprint ban, if not loudly denounced, may be a foot in the door to a broader and ever more damaging series of actions. Already, there seem to be efforts to censor research papers that contain so-called forbidden words<\/a>. In a related vein, the removal and manipulation of datasets and vital health information<\/a> from U.S. government websites highlight the very real consequences of censorship that directly threatens U.S. and global health. These impacts may appear to be happening at a distance or, for those in the U.S., in a different field or department, but in actuality, these actions are threats to scientific integrity and the free flow of information that affect us all. <\/p>\n To our colleagues who are suffering the effects of these policies, please know that we empathize with the difficult circumstances under which you are being forced to work. The core values of ASAPbio are equity, diversity, and inclusion: in research and within our community. We will work to uphold these values, as we also work to ensure that science is not censored, is rigorous, and is freely accessible to the public and to other scientists.<\/p>\n Jonny Coates & Katie Corker for ASAPbio<\/p>\n February 10, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rapid, sweeping, and unprecedented changes in the research environment in the U.S. undermine scientific integrity and threaten human health in the immediate term, with the threat of mass layoffs and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asapbio-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4343,"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3118\/revisions\/4343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asapbio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}