New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: Under pressure from industry, how can academics protect themselves?
Ask HN: Under pressure from industry, how can academics protect themselves?
2 by rscho | 2 comments on Hacker News.
Our group (western Europe) has submitted a review on a device that generates a lot of money (i.e. US multibillion $ industry). Our results speak mildly against the use of said device, with low confidence in the evidence presented. Since the inception of the study, our corresponding author has been queried multiple times by a VP of the relevant company through email, asking us to share our data (which we refused). Since submission, the VP is asking for a meeting in person and there are rumors of them not being happy about our results (which remain unpublished). We did not respond. In the meantime, the company also reached to our head of dept to express their worries about our work. We are worried about potential retaliation on publication. Our boss (head of dpt, tenured prof, not an author) told us not to worry and discouraged us from seeking legal advice. Neither the study nor our group are financially supported. We are affiliated to a teaching institution, but not to a university directly and do not hold academic/teaching positions. How can we protect ourselves? Are there organisms specializing in / providing (free?) researcher protection?
2 by rscho | 2 comments on Hacker News.
Our group (western Europe) has submitted a review on a device that generates a lot of money (i.e. US multibillion $ industry). Our results speak mildly against the use of said device, with low confidence in the evidence presented. Since the inception of the study, our corresponding author has been queried multiple times by a VP of the relevant company through email, asking us to share our data (which we refused). Since submission, the VP is asking for a meeting in person and there are rumors of them not being happy about our results (which remain unpublished). We did not respond. In the meantime, the company also reached to our head of dept to express their worries about our work. We are worried about potential retaliation on publication. Our boss (head of dpt, tenured prof, not an author) told us not to worry and discouraged us from seeking legal advice. Neither the study nor our group are financially supported. We are affiliated to a teaching institution, but not to a university directly and do not hold academic/teaching positions. How can we protect ourselves? Are there organisms specializing in / providing (free?) researcher protection?
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