Sternberg peer review controversy
The Sternberg peer review controversy concerns the conflict arising from the publication of an article supporting pseudoscientific intelligent design creationism in a scientific journal, and the subsequent questions of whether proper editorial procedures had been followed and whether it was properly peer reviewed.
One of the primary criticisms of the intelligent design movement is that there are no research papers supporting their positions in peer reviewed scientific journals.[1] On 4 August 2004, an article by Stephen C. Meyer (Director of Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture) titled "The origin of biological information and the higher taxonomic categories", appeared in the peer-reviewed journal, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Meyer's article was a literature review article, and contained no new primary scholarship itself on the topic of intelligent design. The following month, the publisher of the journal, the Council of the Biological Society of Washington, released a statement repudiating the article and stating that their former editor Richard M. Sternberg had, in an unusual manner, handled the entire review process without consultation or review from an associate editor.[2] The position of editor was unpaid and voluntary, and Sternberg had put in his resignation from it six months earlier.[3] Sternberg disputes the Council's statement and asserts that the paper was appropriately peer reviewed by three biologists who "concluded that [the paper] warranted publication".[4]
The same statement from the Council vowed that proper review procedures would be followed in the future and endorsed a resolution published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which states that there is no credible scientific evidence supporting intelligent design.[5] On September 18, the Discovery Institute issued a statement praising the publication of Meyer's paper in a peer-reviewed journal and chastising the National Center for Science Education for stating that the paper should not have been published.[6] The Biological Society of Washington's president, Roy McDiarmid called Sternberg's decision to publish Meyer's article "a really bad judgment call on the editor's part" and said it was doubtful whether the three scientists who peer reviewed the article and recommended it for publication were evolutionary biologists.[7]
The event has been used to support an unsubstantiated but common narrative of persecution.[8][9]
Background
Richard M. Sternberg
Richard M. Sternberg is an American evolutionary biologist who has completed a BS degree from University of South Carolina and has two PhDs; the first from 1995 in molecular evolution from Florida International University, and a second in systems science from Binghamton University. He did post-doctoral work between 1999 and 2001 at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) at the Smithsonian Institution,[10] on the phylogeny of crabs.[11]
In February 2001 he began work as an invertebrate
In October 2003 Sternberg resigned from being editor of the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, with a commitment to edit issues over the coming year. Early in 2004 intelligent design advocate Stephen C. Meyer contacted Sternberg about a manuscript that he was thinking of submitting to the journal. Sternberg advised him he would have to become a member of the Society, and in a few weeks Meyer sent him copies of the manuscript with evidence of membership. Sternberg went ahead with the review and editing process,[3][11] and Meyer's article appeared in the journal on 4 August 2004. This was already scheduled to be the second last issue that Sternberg would edit.[3] In a statement issued by 10 October 2004 the journal declared that Sternberg had published the paper at his own discretion without following the usual practice of review by an associate editor. The Council and associate editors would have considered the subject of the paper inappropriate for publication as it was significantly outside "the nearly purely systematic content" of the journal.[2] The Council endorsed a resolution "which observes that there is no credible scientific evidence supporting ID as a testable hypothesis", and that the paper therefore "does not meet the scientific standards of the Proceedings".[2]
Sternberg continued in his job as a staff scientist at the National Center for Biotechnology Information until 2007, and continued to hold the unpaid position of Research Associate at the NMNH, which was extended on 15 November 2006 by a further three year appointment as an unpaid 'research collaborator' at the NMNH. After 2007 Sternberg became a research scientist at the intelligent design Biologic Institute, supported by a research fellowship from the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, of which Stephen Meyer is a co-founder and currently director.[10][15]
Sternberg is a
The peer review process
Sternberg insists the paper was properly peer reviewed, and rejects the reason given by the journal for disavowing the article, saying:
As managing editor it was my prerogative to choose the editor who would work directly on the paper, and as I was best qualified among the editors I chose myself.[4]
A series of articles in
Sternberg argues that he had the authority to publish Meyer's paper. But having that authority does not excuse the professional and ethical misjudgments. If you know that the publication of a pro-ID paper in a Smithsonian journal is going to cause an outcry, and you have close ties to the ID movement and to the author of this paper specifically, the ethical thing to do would be to excuse yourself from handling that paper and allow someone without those personal and professional ties to the author and subject of the paper to decide whether it should be published. Thus, Sternberg's decision to publish the paper without the normal peer-review process is a flagrant breach of professional ethics that brought disrepute to the Smithsonian.
— Ed Brayton, The Richard Sternberg Affair
Doubts were raised whether the reviewers were evolutionary biologists.
Sternberg claims to have also checked with a Council member and to have followed the standard practice for peer review:
Three reviewers responded and were willing to review the paper; all are experts in relevant aspects of evolutionary and molecular biology and hold full-time faculty positions in major research institutions, one at an Ivy League university, another at a major North American public university, a third on a well-known overseas research faculty. There was substantial feedback from reviewers to the author, resulting in significant changes to the paper. The reviewers did not necessarily agree with Dr. Meyer's arguments or his conclusion but all found the paper meritorious and concluded that it warranted publication...four well-qualified biologists with five PhDs in relevant disciplines were of the professional opinion that the paper was worthy of publication.[24]
Of the four "well-qualified biologists with five PhDs" Sternberg identifies, one was Sternberg himself, contributing his double doctorate to the total he cited. Sternberg's claim of following proper peer review procedures directly contradicts the published public statement of his former employer, the publisher of the journal, that the proper procedures were not followed resulting in the article's retraction.[2] In previous years the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington had published yearly lists of all the people who had served as peer reviewers. That list is absent for 2004, the year of the incident. Sternberg has repeatedly refused to identify the three "well-qualified biologists,"[25] citing personal concerns over professional repercussions for them.
Criticism
In a review of Meyer's article The origin of biological information and the higher taxonomic categories, Alan Gishlick, Nick Matzke, and Wesley R. Elsberry claimed it contained poor scholarship, that it failed to cite and specifically rebut the actual data supporting evolution, and "constructed a rhetorical edifice out of omission of relevant facts, selective quoting, bad analogies, knocking down straw men, and tendentious interpretations."[22] Further examination of the article revealed that it was substantially similar to previously published articles co-authored by Meyer.[26]
Critics of Sternberg believe that he was biased in the matter, arguing that Sternberg's close personal and ideological connections to the paper's author suggest at least the appearance of conflict of interest.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science, in a position statement describing the events around the controversy, said "Given these associations, Dr. Sternberg would appear to be, at very least, an advocate for 'intelligent design' and critical of standard peer review processes as they bear on the scientific assessment of the 'intelligent design' hypothesis."[35] Critics describe Sternberg's explanation of events, that a pro-intelligent design paper just happened to find its way to a publication with a sympathetic editor ultimately responsible for ensuring proper peer review and editing of his last issue, and that he decided it was appropriate to deal with the review process in person on a subject in which he has a personal interest, as improbable and that "people who want us to believe that the publication process outlined [by Sternberg and his defenders] was transparent and only had to do with science" are "disingenuous."[28]
Journalist Chris Mooney has compared the Sternberg controversy to that of a paper published by climate change deniers Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas in Climate Change, where a sympathetic editor Chris de Freitas allowed it to be published, despite its lack of scientific merit.[36]
Smithsonian controversy
After the peer review controversy became public, Sternberg filed a religious discrimination complaint against the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, where he had an unpaid appointment as a research associate,[37][38] while employed by the National Institutes of Health.[39][40]
Sternberg claims that he was "targeted for retaliation and harassment" and subject to efforts to remove him from the museum in retaliation for his views in support of intelligent design. He continues to cite a letter by the
In response, Sternberg's supervisor at the Smithsonian, Jonathan Coddington, responded publicly disputing Sternberg's and Klinghoffer's depiction of events. Coddington states that Sternberg was never dismissed, nor was he a paid employee, and that he was never the target of discrimination, and remained serving at the museum up to that time.[38]
In August, 2005 the Office of Special Counsel dropped Sternberg's religious discrimination complaint against the Smithsonian Institution. It was determined that as an unpaid research associate at the Smithsonian, Sternberg was not actually an employee, and thus the Office of Special Counsel had no jurisdiction.
In a November 2005
In December 2006 a partisan report was issued by
Observers have said that facts of the case simply do not support the conclusions of the report nor is the report an official report of the committee.[54] They say that the Discovery Institute is using the report to portray Sternberg specifically, and design proponents in general, as victims of persecution. They also say the Souder report is a repackaging of the Office of Special Council's previous findings from August 2005 and contains nothing new, consisting of "the OSC findings restated and used as a form of evidence in and of themselves" and attacks the Smithsonian for "not accepting the OSC's findings at face value."[8] They cite as evidence of a biased motive behind the report the longstanding connections of the report's instigators, Congressmen Souder and Santorum, to the Discovery Institute, whose Program Director is Stephen C. Meyer, author of the paper Sternberg published. In 2000 Souder co-hosted a congressional briefing on behalf of the Discovery Institute intended to drum up political support for intelligent design and read a defense of intelligent design prepared by the Discovery Institute into the congressional record.[52] Santorum worked with the Discovery Institute's program director Phillip E. Johnson in 2000 and 2001 drafting the pro-intelligent design Santorum Amendment and in March 2006 wrote the foreword for the book, Darwin's Nemesis: Phillip Johnson And the Intelligent Design Movement a collection of essays largely by Discovery Institute fellows honoring Johnson as "father" of the intelligent design movement. Contained in the appendix to the Souder report is a letter from the director of the Smithsonian where it is revealed that Sternberg demanded that they give him a $300,000 grant to make up for his allegedly lost research time; he was turned down.[15] Sternberg's appointment as a Smithsonian Institution research associate was from January 2004 through January 2007. Research associates are not employees of the Museum and appointments are typically awarded for up to three years.
As one of the Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns, the Institute conducted extensive lobbying and public relations efforts on Sternberg's behalf, including arranging for articles by Institute Fellows to be published in the mainstream press.[55][56][57][58] The April 2008 film featuring Ben Stein promoting intelligent design, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, included interviews with Sternberg and claims that his "life was ruined". Both Scientific American and the National Center for Science Education state that the film misrepresents key facts.[3][53]
Notes and references
- ^ Judge John E. Jones III: "A final indicator of how ID has failed to demonstrate scientific warrant is the complete absence of peer-reviewed publications supporting the theory...The evidence presented in this case demonstrates that ID is not supported by any peer-reviewed research, data or publications." (Ruling, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District 4: whether ID is science).
- ^ a b c d "Statement from the Council of the Biological Society of Washington". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b c d e "Richard Sternberg". Expelled Exposed. National Center for Science Education. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
- ^ a b "Statement from Richard Sternberg". Archived from the original on March 6, 2005. Retrieved 2005-07-23.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "AAAS Board Resolution on Intelligent Design Theory". American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2002-10-18. Archived from the original on 2010-03-05. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ Staff (2004-09-08). "NCSE Flip-flops As Controversy Over Peer-Reviewed Article Continues: Darwinists Like Peer-Review Except When They Don't". Center for Science and Culture. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ a b c "Biology society regrets creationist article". Society of Academic Authors. 2004-10-31. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ a b Reuland, Steve (December 20, 2006). "The Office of Sternberg Coddling". The Panda's Thumb. Archived from the original on January 10, 2007.
- ^ doi:10.1172/JCI28449, A publication of the American Society for Clinical Investigation; 10226K PDF file)
- ^ a b c "Richard Sternberg Biography". www.rsternberg.com. 2008. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ^ a b c d Sternberg, Richard. "How My Views on Evolution Evolved" (PDF). richardsternberg.com. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ Washington Poststaff writer
- ^ BSG: A Creation Biology Study Group
- ^ RAPID schedule
- ^ United States House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, December 2006.
- Wall Street Journal. January 28, 2005. Retrieved 2009-03-17. from David Klinghoffer, a Discovery Institute fellow
- ^ Process structuralism
- ^ ISCID – Fellows
- ^ "A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-01-18.
- Skeptic. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- Skeptic. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- ^ Skeptic. 11 (4): 66–69. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- ^ "Dissent from Darwin". Discovery Institute. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- ^ Sternberg, R. "Details of publication process". rsternberg.net. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
- ^ •http://www.rsternberg.net/.
•"WORLD Magazine | Science's new heresy trial | Gene Edward Veith | Feb 19, 05". Archived from the original on 2010-09-11. Retrieved 2010-06-02.. - ^ Meyer and Deja Vu Revisited Archived 2006-06-24 at the Wayback Machine, Wesley R. Elsberry, The Panda's Thumb, September 26, 2004.
- ^ a b Sternberg and the "smear" of Creationism Archived 2006-12-14 at the Wayback Machine, Andrea Bottaro, The Panda's Thumb.
- ^ a b Sternberg and the "smear" of Creationism Archived 2006-12-14 at the Wayback Machine comment, Andrea Bottaro, The Panda's Thumb.
- ^ RAPID conference attendees
- ^ RAPID conference schedule
- ^ American Scientific Affiliation Newsletter, Volume 44 Number 5, September/October 2002
- ^ ID paper continues to attract scrutiny, National Center for Science Education, September 10, 2004
- ^ The American Association for the Advancement of Science describes ISCID as a "virtual association created by ID advocates." Intelligent Design and Peer Review Archived 2012-06-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Discovery Institute Center for Science and Culture Fellows". Discovery Institute. Archived from the original on 2004-07-14. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
- ^ Intelligent Design and Peer Review Archived 2012-06-06 at the Wayback Machine American Association for the Advancement of Science
- ^ Déjà vu All Over Again Archived 2006-07-04 at the Wayback Machine, Chris Mooney, September 13, 2004
- ^ Natural History Research Associates Alphabetical Listing 2004 Archived 2006-05-02 at the Wayback Machine, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History
- ^ a b Sternberg vs. Smithsonian, Jonathan Coddington, The Panda's Thumb
- ^ Powell, Michael (19 August 2005). "Editor Explains Reasons for 'Intelligent Design' Article". Washington Post. pp. A19..
- NPR: All Things Considered. November 10, 2005.
- ^ Sternberg, Office of Special Counsel "Pre-Closure Letter"
- ^ Comment, The Pseudo-Science Amicus Brief in Kitzmiller Archived 2006-02-19 at the Wayback Machine, Pim Van Meurs, The Panda's Thumb.
- ^ a b Sternberg complaint dismissed Archived 2006-02-12 at the Wayback Machine, Nick Matzke, The Panda's Thumb, August 19, 2005.
- ^ Congressional Investigation Confirms Discrimination against Smithsonian Scientist Critical of Darwinian Evolution, Discovery Institute, December 18, 2006
- ^ Discovery Institute Fellows
- OpinionJournal, The Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2005.
- ^ The evolution wars enter the "No Spin Zone", Jason Rosenhouse, TalkReason.
- National Public Radio, November 10, 2005
- ^ Creating a Martyr: The Sternberg Saga Continues, Ed Brayton, Talk Reason]
- ^ Ben Stein’s Blunder, Michael Shermer, 17 April 2008, eSkeptic, ISSN 1556-5696
- United States House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, December 2006.
- ^ a b Lame Ducks Weigh In Archived 2007-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, Reed A. Cartwright, The Panda's Thumb, December 15, 2006
- ^ a b Six Things in Expelled That Ben Stein Doesn't Want You to Know..., John Rennie and Steve Mirsky, Scientific American, April 16, 2008
- ^ Creating a Martyr: The Sternberg Saga Continues Archived 2007-01-21 at the Wayback Machine, Ed Brayton, Dispatches from the Culture Wars, December 19, 2006.
- ^ Setting the Record Straight on Sternberg, Evolution News and Views, Discovery Institute, February 6, 2005.
- ^ Sternberg, Smithsonian, Meyer, And The Paper That Started It All, Discovery Institute, October 19, 2005.
- ^ Smithsonian Scientist Was Demoted for Views Critical of Darwinian Evolution, Evolution News and Views, Discovery Institute, December 15, 2006.
- ^ Breaking News on Sternberg Discrimination, Evolution News and Views, Discovery Institute, August 16, 2005.
External links
- The origin of biological information and the higher taxonomic categories, Meyer's paper that started the controversy
- Sternberg's home page presenting his allegations concerning the controversy
- "Sternberg vs. Smithsonian - Comments from Sternberg's Smithsonian supervisor, Jonathan Coddington". Panda's Thumb. Archived from the original on October 18, 2005. - in response to the Wall Street Journal editorial, from Panda's Thumb