Here's an opportunity to impress upon students the importance of not 
publishing the same data twice (at least, not without being very 
explicit that this is what one is doing).

'...the ClinPsyc blog (clinpsyc.blogspot.com 
<http://clinpsyc.blogspot.com>) has spotted that the drug company Lilly 
has published identical data on duloxetine - a newish antidepressant 
drug - twice over, in two entirely separate scientific papers.... There 
are several reasons why this is interesting. Firstly, duplicate 
publication distorts a reader's impression of how much evidence is out 
there. If you think there are two trials showing that something works, 
then obviously that's much more impressive than if there's just one. "Of 
course I prescribe it," you can hear the doctors say. "I've seen two 
trials showing that it works."'

For the rest of the article, see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/25/medical-research-science-health

By the way, if you haven't already discovered it, The Guardian has one 
of the best science sections of any  newspaper around.

Regards,
Chris
-- 

Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada

 

416-736-2100 ex. 66164
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/

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