Scientific honesty and publicly shared lab notebooks

Abstract

EMBO Reports (2018) e46866 Let us be honest: it is not always easy to remain totally truthful when reporting scientific results. Our research is usually complex, and the data that we obtain rarely fit a simple model that explains everything. Yet, we feel the need—or the pressure—to publish papers with a simple message and an unwrinkled story line. This is particularly expected in high‐profile journals, where there is little room for subtleties, inconsistencies, exceptions or negative results. Hence, as we write our papers and prepare presentations, the temptation to beautify or over‐simplify our results can be forceful. Here are some common examples. > … as scientists, we are regularly confronted with a Grey Zone of possible choices that challenge our standards of scientific honesty.