Sixth Michealson Research Conference, Cloudcroft NM, Aug. 1999.
The recent conclusion of a scientific misconduct case against a well-known bioelectromagnetics researcher is having significant impacts outside of bioelectromagnetics. Much of the media coverage of the affair appears to be conveying the (clearly incorrect) message to laypeople that the controversy about possible health effects of power line fields resulted from falsifed scientific data. Second, and more troubling, the incident has been used by some political conservatives to support the case for Freedom of Information Act access to primary scientific data, the so-called Shelby amendment. This talk is intended to open these issues and consider possible responses by the bioelectromagnetics community.