How to tell science from pseudoscience: Our all-in guide to ferreting out falsehoods.
How to tell science from pseudoscience
Our all-in guide to ferreting out falsehoods.
By Natalie Wallington | Published Oct 15, 2021 10:14 AM
Science DIY
https://www.popsci.com/diy/spot-fake-science/
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“A lot of these [pseudoscience] sites rely on the fact that people are not going to dig into the studies that they’re citing,” says Gregory. “They might even present them in a way that’s not very accessible in order to give the impression of scientific rigor and lend the claims an air of credibility.”
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Developments in the field of medicine are frequently falsified or misrepresented. This means you’ll need an extra level of scrutiny to separate fact from fiction. Often, peddlers of false info rely on a small nugget of truth to help support their claims.
“What they usually rely on is misrepresenting smaller lab studies, maybe an animal model study, but no human trial,” Gregory says of articles that purport to reveal miraculous cures to diseases like cancer. “Then, they exaggerate that to say that because [an experimental treatment] killed cancer cells in a lab in a petri dish, it’ll do the same in the human body—and that’s just not true.”
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A miracle cure, a government conspiracy, or a shocking revelation are all hallmarks of dubious science news—and they often pop up again and again in the same pseudoscience-peddling outlets. If a scientific claim seems suspicious, it’s worthwhile to see what other types of stories the site is posting and if the publication’s overall character throws up red flags.
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