OMB Modifies Peer-Review Proposal (washingtonpost.com)

OMB Modifies Peer-Review Proposal (washingtonpost.com):

"The guidelines set minimum standards for how scientific information is to be 'peer reviewed' before it is released by federal entities. They apply to all 'influential' scientific information -- defined as information likely to have an impact on public policies or private industry decisions. And the guidelines insist on higher levels of review and scientific certainty for 'highly influential scientific assessments,' summaries of technical knowledge used to support regulations whose impact is expected to exceed $500 million a year."

George Orwell coined the term "doublespeak" in his novel, "1984". The word sprang to mind in connection with the previous draft of this regulation, which was to "welcome industry representatives on peer-review panels while restricting participation by academic experts who had been recipients of federal grant money." The regulated were seen as the "peers" of those doing the research on which the regulations were to be based. "Peer review" was to be applied to a process designed to reduce the flow of information derived from scientific research, not improve that flow. Indeed, the term "sound science" appears similarly to be used to describe processes which would reduce the use of results of scientific research in public decision making (leaving such processes more open to "information" derived from non-scientific processes).