“Let us report on allegations of scientific fraud!”: AJSPI responds to French scientists who denounced “a witch hunt”

The board of the French Association of Science Journalists, AJSPI, has issued a statement (in French) in response to an open letter titled “Scientific Ethics, Journalistic Ethics” (in French) signed by over 500 French scientists who criticised an article published by the daily “Le Monde” on the on-going controversy over allegations of misconduct towards a researcher working for the Sorbonne University and for CNRS.

“The mission of science journalists is to share scientific advances with the public, but also to report on the way science is produced” reads the document. “When the situation requires it, AJSPI considers it normal, and even indispensible, for science journalists to investigate on potential cases of scientific misconduct”.