If science journals can’t solve their own problems, why are they dictating to Florida parents?

The NCSE is just a propaganda mill. They wouldn't know science if it hit them in the face. ET

Actually News, the internet allows anyone, and everyone to publish almost anything. This indeed sounds like a good thing, and in many ways it is, and has broadened lives, and enabled people to voice criticisms, particularly political ones. You however, are saying that the internet has energised the people to become involved in absolutely any, and all debate. Again, on the face of it a good thing, until..... Until what? Until you need detailed researched, respected, backed up, sourced, reliable facts. When this is needed the people I go to are the scientists, auto-electricians, physcists, doctors, engineers, and all the specialists, with years of study, or practice. When you need trust News, Nature, and NCSE are more reliable than, www.IDthefuture.com, (Not a real site:). Unlike you, I do indeed, 'trust' academia. Even with all its faults, it's been tested over hundreds of years. You, and especially the chaotic internet, have not. rvb8

You are right, Molson Bleu at 1. The internet changed everything, the way Gutenberg did, and it takes some time for institutions to re-establish quality controls. Often, a generation or two must pass. I write about this last year in the context of fake news. That said, in this and other areas, one would like to hear fewer pious promises of reform and more concrete, workable proposals. Also, fewer distractions please! Their worrying about what is happening in Florida classrooms is offputting when they cannot endorse the practices at most science journals - about which they should have more control if they are worth listening to in the first place. News

Science journals, and other academic journals, are suffering from the same pressures that print media is. Back when the print version was the only one available, journals made their money from libraries buying them and from authors having to pay to be published. Nice gig if you can get it. With the internet, it has become a competition to attract authors, where before it was a competition amongst authors for limited journal space. I published my first paper in a Springer journal in over thirty years. I can say that it was rigorously reviewed, but I am sure that this varies significantly depending on the review panel. The eye opener was when, six months later, I was asked to review a manuscript submitted to the same journal. I have published a total of four science papers, three of them in the mid eighties, and they looked to me to review a paper. I did my best job, but why in hell would they ask me to do this? Certainly not based on my productivity or credentials. In addition to this, a week hasn’t gone by in which I don’t receive an unsolicited email from different journals asking me to submit a manuscript. That doesn’t speak well for the publication business. Molson Bleu