SCIENCE has entered a new age of self-censorship. Two research papers have been modified prior to publication because of fears the information they contained could help terrorists create biological weapons. And an influential group of journal editors is calling on all peer-reviewed publications to censor themselves in this way.
The two papers were submitted to journals published by the American Society for Microbiology, Ron Atlas, president of the ASM, told a press briefing at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Denver. One paper, he hinted, had included details of how a toxin could be modified to make it more deadly.
Fears about bioterrorism recently persuaded the ASM to introduce a policy of requiring reviewers to assess any potentially dangerous information submitted to journals, and for editors to change or reject papers if the risks of helping terrorists outweighed the scientific benefits (New 杏吧原创, 18 January, p 10). At the briefing, the editors of several leading journals, including Nature and Science, announced they are following suit, and released a joint statement calling for all peer-reviewed journals to adopt similar policies.
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The statement emphasises the need to protect the 鈥渋ntegrity of the scientific process鈥� and does not include specific guidelines about what should be excluded. One clear example is how to weaponise anthrax, Atlas suggests. But critics point out that it is hard to determine what constitutes dangerous information, and that there are many ways for such material to enter the public domain besides peer-reviewed journals. A disgruntled author could release a paper on the Web, for example.