The commercialization of the biomedical sciences: (mis)understanding bias
Item Type
Author
Language
English
Abstract
The growing commercialization of scientific research has raised important concerns about industry bias. According to some evidence, so-called industry bias can affect the integrity of the science as well as the direction of the research agenda. I argue that conceptualizing industry's influence in scientific research in terms of bias is unhelpful. Insofar as industry sponsorship negatively affects the integrity of the research, it does so through biasing mechanisms that can affect any research independently of the source of funding. Talk about industry bias thus offers no insight into the particular epistemic shortcomings at stake. If the concern is with the negative effects that industry funding can have on the research agenda, conceptualizing this influence as bias obscures the ways in which such impact is problematic and limits our ability to offer solutions that can successfully address the concerns raised by the growing role of private funding in science.
Subject
Technology Transfer
Bias
Commercialization of science
Research agenda
Biomedical Research
Commodification
Industry bias
Non-epistemic values in science
Publication Title
Publication Year
2019
Publication Date
2019-09-04
Journal abreviation
Hist Philos Life Sci
Source
PMID: 31485872PubMed
License
ISSN
1742-6316
Link Attachment
Physical Description
vol. 41, n. 3, pp. 34
Short Title
The commercialization of the biomedical sciences