Thursday 24 January 2008

Creationists launch "science" journal

Those tricksy creationists are at it again folks - this time with a peer-reviewed journal which non-scientists won't be able to distinguish from a real science journal...

Answers in Genesis, a Christian ministry run by evangelical Ken Ham, launched Answers Research Journal (ARJ ), a free, online publication devoted to research on “recent Creation and the global Flood within a biblical framework”. Papers will be peer reviewed by those who “support the positions taken by the journal”.

“There have been these kinds of publications in the past,” says Keith Miller, a geologist at Kansas State University in Manhattan, who follows creationism. For the most part, he says, the work is ignored by the scientific community. But those without a science background, including some policy-makers, may not be able to judge the difference in value of a paper in ARJ and a genuine science journal.

Yes folks, this is the bit that concerns me most. Policy which relies on scientific knowledge is guilty enough of watering things down at times - and now there's a new, insidious threat to the contribution genuine science can make.



http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080123/full/451382b.html

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1 comment:

Kathfrog said...

Yeah this reminds me of the journal called CO2 research which 'proved' how good rising CO2 levels are. Its sad that people can mimick the form of scientific papers are gain credibility that way!