Workshop on Advocacy in Science

American Association For The Advancement Of Science, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The AAAS project Advocacy in Science explores the following questions: Should scientists be advocates for public policies related to their areas of expertise? What are the contexts in which they should or should not be advocates? What constitutes responsible advocacy and what are the attributes of its opposite? What is the role of scientific societies in policy advocacy? What mechanisms exist for instructing scientists in responsible advocacy? As science policy issues become increasingly politically and/or ethically contentious, the role of scientists as public policy advocates has correspondingly become more controversial. The role of scientists as advocates is an integral part of the responsible conduct of research, touching as it does on core issues of the integrity of scientists. For example, can scientists retain their role as objective reporters of scientific findings if they are simultaneously advocating for a particular policy outcome? If scientists are strong advocates for one position or another, could adversely affect their ability to conduct their own research perhaps by allowing unconscious biases to affect inadvertently the way in which they design and interpret studies? To examine the role of scientists as policy advocates, AAAS will convene an invitational workshop to consider the definition and boundaries of advocacy as it relates to scientists in the policy arena, the normative aspects of such advocacy and any existing guidelines, and the need for education on advocacy for scientists and students. Workshop products will include the following: (1) commissioned papers; (2) a report of the workshop deliberations; and (3) short papers written by workshop organizers for publication in scholarly and other professional publications. The workshop will also inform AAAS in planning a larger project on advocacy by scientists that will conduct empirical research to document and analyze cases of advocacy, consider and develop guidelines and best practices for scientist-advocates, and prepare educational resources on advocacy for scientists and students.