Aetogate: press and blog coverage

Tue Jul 15 11:08:22 BST 2008

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We're keeping track of all the coverage we see of the New Mexico story. The following are listed most recent first (so newest articles at the top). Since there is a lot to wade through here, we have marked some of the ones we think are most interesting with three red asterisks ***.

Note that we are not responsible for the contents of external sites.

Tuesday 15 July

Up to this point, I have tried to keep my own opinions about Aetogate under wraps, the better to serve as an objective collator of other people's coverage. But I have, finally, gone public with my own thoughts -- on a different site, so that this one remains as objective as possible.

• The Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week blog has a special post, Off-topic: "We're going to need a bigger Ethics Committee", written by Mike Taylor.

Friday 10 July

I think everyone now accepts that Aetogate is dying, if not dead: the SVP's failure to engage with the allegations leaves no further route by which to pursue redress. Still, there remain a few things to be said:

• Janet D. Stemwedel's Adventures in Ethics and Science blog reaches part four of its increasingly inaccurately named Aetogate trilogy, discussing Aetogate aftermath: paleontologists discuss the norms of their discipline.

Monday 16 June

• Mickey Rowe, co-moderator of The Dinosaur Mailing List, notes his disappointment at the the SVP addendum.

Thursday 12 June

• *** Janet D. Stemwedel's Adventures in Ethics and Science blog has published part three of its Aetogate trilogy, discussing SVP Ethics Education Committee "best practices" for research, publication, and museum work. A fourth installment is promised, "in which I examine what working paleontologists have been saying about what they see as the accepted practices within their professional community".

Thursday 5 June

• Kevin Padian's lengthy comment on the recent Catalogue of Organisms post explains clearly what standard operating procedure is for allowing or denying access to specimens in vertebrate palaeontology. In light of recent obfuscation, this is very timely and welcome.

Tuesday 3 June

• *** Christopher Taylor's Catalogue of Organisms has a considered discussion of Who Owns the Data?, i.e. who has the right to publish on a given specimen? "The right to publish once access to specimens has been granted seems to be fairly implicit. However, I am rather disappointed that it could not be made explicit."

Monday 2 June

• *** Darren Naish's Tetrapod Zoology site has a new entry reviewing where we are and how we got here.
• The widely read Pharyngula blog of P. Z. Myers (University of Minnesota biologist and associate professor) weighs in with a withering summary of Aetogate: "Sometimes, the politics of science can get ugly, and they don't get much uglier than this ghastly mess [...] it sounds to this outsider like a few senior scientists riding roughshod over their junior colleagues and students."
• *** Jon Wagner, in an email on the publicly archived VRTPALEO list, asks twelve highly pertinent questions about the SVP's verdict, including "2) Why does the EEC place so much relative weight on personal testimony, rather than tangible evidence?"
• Mickey Rowe, co-moderator of The Dinosaur Mailing List, briefly notes that he has written again to Governor Richardson about the State of New Mexico's role in Aetogate.
• *** Janet D. Stemwedel's Adventures in Ethics and Science blog continues its three-part series on the SVP findings with SVP Ethics Education Commitee statement: lessons learned from 'Aetogate'.

Friday 30 May

• Chris Rowan's Highly Allochthonous covers Aetogate: the final round?, noting that the SVP's new best-practice document "represents at least a small victory in the fight against bad actors within the research community".
• The Santa Fe New Mexican has an article reporting on the SVP decision as a total vindication for Lucas et al.
• *** Pete Reser writes an open letter to the SVP Executive Committee about their behind-closed-doors handling of the the Aetogate review.
• *** Science Ethics specialist Janet D. Stemwedel's Adventures in Ethics and Science blog discusses the SVP Ethics Education Commitee conclusions on 'Aetogate', in the first of what will be a three-part series.

Thursday 29 May

• Yesterday's Albuquerque Journal has an editorial, Tough Learning Curve for an Obvious Lesson: "The state's secretary of cultural affairs managed to make a review of allegations about improprieties at a state museum look like whitewashing, foot-dragging or garden-variety bumbling."
• Andy Farke's blog The Open Source Paleontologist dicusses Aetosaurs and the Open Access Dissertation, noting that "even without a search engine, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that a student who has had one or more conference presentations on thesis-y sounding research may have a thesis in his or her name on that topic."
• Laelaps (Brian Switek) notes the SVP decision and points out that "coverage of the story on the internet prevented the controversy from quietly slipping away or being forgotten".

Tuesday 27 May

• Mickey Rowe, co-moderator with Mary Kirkaldy of The Dinosaur Mailing List, has added some detailed thoughts on the SVP decision.

Saturday 24 May

• *** Today's Albuquerque Journal carries the story Museum Ethics Case Closes With Mixed Ruling, reporting on the SVP's findings, also noting that "Lucas' unpaid faculty affiliation with the University [of New Mexico] was not being renewed."

Friday 23 May

• *** A brief update on the Albuquerque Journal web-site notes that the SVP ethics committee has released its verdict, and includes important long comments by Kevin Padian and Stuart Ashman of the New Mexico DCA.

Tuesday 29 April

• Dinochick (ReBecca Hunt) urges concerned people to write to the NM Governor.

Friday 18 April

• The Ethical Palaeontologist (Julia Heathcote) comments on recent Aetogate discussions on the VRTPALEO list, the role of the SVP ethics committee, and the way the Internet has made this case visible.

Sunday 13 April

• Mickey Rowe, co-moderator with Mary Kirkaldy of The Dinosaur Mailing List, has added a template letter that concerned people can use as a base if they wish to write to the New Mexico state governor.
• *** Science Ethics specialist Janet D. Stemwedel's Adventures in Ethics and Science blog offers Some thoughts on 'Aetogate', raising several important points: "Quite apart from whether intentional plagiarism could be proved, there's something distressing about the view that it's sufficient to establish an oversight."
• Laelaps (Brian Switek) is still waiting for a resolution, an echoes the widely held perception that everything now rests on the verdict of the SVP Ethics Committee.

Tuesday 8 April

• A new article in the Albuquerque Journal, Scientists: Museum Ethics Inquiry 'Travesty', reports on our formal rejection of the DCA's recent inquiry and the accompanying detailed rebuttal of Lucas's defence and the inquiry panel's report.
• Chris Rowan's Highly Allochthonous has some commentary on Martz's and Parker's responses to Lucas, noting that "the response of the NMMNHS so far been almost as damaging as the original (very serious) allegation".

• Mickey Rowe, co-moderator with Mary Kirkaldy of The Dinosaur Mailing List, has added a new section to the Aetogate page on the DML site, summarising The Story So Far. He has also written a letter to the Governor of New Mexico [local copy], calling for the removal of DCA head Stuart Ashman: "It is clear to me [...] that Mr. Ashman is incapable of leading such an investigation. After his third strike, it is time for him to return to the dugout."

Monday 17 March

• A brief update on the Albuquerque Journal web-site indicates that "Jeffrey Martz, one of the scientists who made those charges, has responded." Martz's rebuttal is on the Journal site.

Friday 14 March

• Some days ago (I have only just caught up), Jon Wagner, in an email on the publicly archived VRTPALEO list, tore into Lucas's defence:

  Let me be blunt: either the content of this report is an exercise in spin, disingenuity, obfuscation, deliberate misdirection, and bald reciprocal accusation, or I have completely misunderstood the ethics and practices of our profession. By my understanding of those standards, no vertebrate paleontologist could possibly agree with the bulk of the statements made in the report.

• Also some days ago, Jeff Martz (one of the principals), in an email on the publicly archived VRTPALEO list, explained why he and others feel they must continue to pursue this matter rather than, as some of the VRTPALEO list have suggested, letting it drop.

Wednesday 12 March

• The Reptipage briefly notes that Jeff Martz has responded to Lucas's report.

Monday 10 March

• A brief update on the Albuquerque Journal web-site indicates that "Parker has now posted his rebuttal to Lucas's charges." The rebuttal is on this site.

Sunday 9 March

• The Reptipage briefly notes that Bill Parker has responded to Lucas's report.
• *** Today's Albuquerque Journal has another letter to the editor, Museum Stonewalling Routine, in which Henry Ortiz tells of running into stonewalling by the NMMNHS and DCA, similar to what we are currently experiencing, when he complained about unauthorised collecting on his land. [local copy].

Saturday 8 March

• The Reptipage notes that Mark Norell of the AMNH has set the record straight on Lucas's assertion that the NMMNHS Bulletin peer-review system is the same as is used for AMNH publications.

Friday 7 March

• *** Wednesday's Albuquerque Journal had a letter to the editor, Fossil Case Demands Inquiry, from Angela Wandinger-Ness, President of the New Mexico Academy of Science. (We missed this letter on Wednesday and now report it belatedly). "It is imperative that the facts and circumstances leading to the allegations be reviewed by an independent, unbiased authority, as well as by subject experts." Because this letter represents the opinion of a respected and important body, we have taken a local copy.
• Will Bair's blog, The Dragon's Tales, says that "the results of the Aetogate accusation review by the review board put together by the State of New Mexico's Secretary of Cultural Affairs is a joke" (italics his).

Thursday 6 March

• *** Today's Albuquerque Journal has an editorial, Thorough Airing Ends Up a Waste of Oxygen: "Lucas is poorly served by a process so one-sided that it does nothing to clear the cloud above the solid reputation he has achieved. Apparently more familiar with juried art shows than with juries selected for objectivity, Ashman fell short of the goal of a thorough airing of the matter."
• David Hone's blog discusses the consequences for the public image of science when allegations such as those of Aetogate are not properly investigated. "If we cannot be seen to be dealing with serious allegations promptly, fairly and correctly then the public will question what else we are doing."
• Chris Rowan's Highly Allochthonous is scathing about the DCA's inquiry: "they pulled 'Inquiries 101' off the shelf, only to discover that most of the pages had been ripped out".

Wednesday 5 March

• *** The Albuquerque Journal now has a full article on the inquiry, Review Panel Clears N.M. Museum Director, but notes that "the review panel allowed Lucas and his colleagues to speak in their defense but never heard from the scientists who made the accusations" and that "the process is marred by what is at the very least the strong appearance of conflict of interest" (quote from Janet Stemwedel).
• The Reptipage has an article on the new inquiry: "when one fixes the race, it makes it really easy to predict the winner".
• Dinochick (ReBecca Hunt) comments on the new inquiry in an article entitled Hypocrites.
• Laelaps (Brian Switek) looks at the inquiry report and asks Was anyone surprised by this? "The findings of [...] seems to reflect Silberling's earlier asinine assertions about a collective of young paleontologists that have targeted Lucas for persecution for no discernible reason. Perhaps if they actually talked to Parker and Martz such misunderstandings would be avoided."

Tuesday 4 March

• Paul Anderson, a (non-practising) lawyer and husband of Julia Heathcote, describes the new inquiry as Justice, or something wholly unlike it.
• The Ethical Palaeontologist (Julia Heathcote) is the first to comment on the newly published findings of the inquiry in her article Whitewash.
• *** A brief update on the Albuquerque Journal web-site indicates that "the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science innocent of stealing the work of outside scientists." The findings are available as a PDF. More coverage to follow.
• In response to Aetogate, the Lounge of the Lab Lemming invites you to Pick your preferred paleontologist from Josh Smith, Marcus Ross and Spencer Lucas.
• Christopher Taylor's Catalogue of Organisms discussed then-recent Aetogate developments in a post that I have only just become aware of, Bitch and Moan, Moan and Bitch, which comes to the conclusion: "Seriously, what the f***?"
• Another just-discovered Catalogue of Organisms post uses Aetogate to ask Why Is Plagiarism Bad?
• The Reptipage notes that, a day after the DCA's new inquiry was due to report, it has yet to do so.

Monday 3 March

• Today's Albuquerque Journal has a letter to the editor from Ted Guinn: "I have been a volunteer docent at the Museum of Natural History and Science for over ten years. During this time I have had many meetings and communications with Spencer Lucas, who is the current acting director. I have always found him to be a scholar and a gentleman and I cannot believe him to be capable of the acts he is accused of."
• The Ethical Palaeontologist (Julia Heathcote) is holding her breath, waiting for the outcome of the DCA's inquiry.

Sunday 2 March

• *** Today's Albuquerque Journal asks: Who Controls Access to Research on Fossils? It notes that Lucas says of specimens held at NMMNHS "You have to remember, we're talking about fossils we collected in our collection [...] All this stuff is our stuff" but also observes that "That is not the way the U.S. Forest Service views the issue. Fossils collected on Forest Service land remain federal property. 'Fossils collected from public Forest Service lands should be made available to the public, including qualified researchers,' said Kathy DeLucas, spokeswoman for the Carson National Forest."

Friday 29 February

• Highly Allochthonous is the blog of Chris Rowan, a post-doctoral geologist specialising in paleomagnetism. In a posting made today, he describes the NMMNHS's and DCA's response to the complaints as "nuts". Read Napalm is not a good fire extinguisher.

Thursday 28 February

• Laelaps (Brian Switek) advertises Dinochick's Aetogate T-shirts.
• the Dalhousie Gazette has an error-strewn summary of the case, A scandal by any other name. Despite the scientific mistakes, this is interesting because it shows that Aetogate is getting attention from far afield -- Nova Scotia, in this case.

Wednesday 27 February

• For some reason, Tradingcharts.com has republished the fifth Albuquerque Journal article, with a new headline. This version was distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Service, so we may see it turning up in other venues, too.

  [Later: turns out that the headline isn't new: apparently, late editions of the Albuquerque Journal used this headline with the article rather than the original headline we all saw.]

Tuesday 26 February

• Dinochick (ReBecca Hunt) weighs in on Silberling's letter: "The other day I wrote that I probably did not need to comment on Norman Silberling's letter. I was wrong. His words are poison."
• The Ethical Palaeontologist (Julia Heathcote) advertises Dinochick's Aetogate T-shirts.

Monday 25 February

• *** The Ethical Palaeontologist (Julia Heathcote) has posted a strongly negative reaction of the new DCA inquiry and Silberling's pre-emptive letter: "I was shaking with rage by the time I'd finished reading it. [My] husband was almost shedding tears of anger at just how little regard for justice and due process there was. And we're not even involved!"

Sunday 24 February

• The Reptipage dissects the DCA's new inquiry and Silberling's pre-emptive conclusions, and argues that "if Norman Silberling wants to cheer in Lucas's corner, then he should have the right to do so. But he shouldn't be 'on the jury,' when it comes to the actual case."
• Dinochick (ReBecca Hunt) questions the objectivity of the DCA's review, concluding "I only hope that Stuart Ashman and other state officials will realize the blunder [that] including these two impartial parties has caused and will conduct a open, and impartial review on the matter."
• *** Today's Albuquerque Journal has a short and sweet editorial, Old Bones of Contention lambasting the DCA's new inquiry and selection of outside scientists: "[Lucas's claim-jump] seems about as far south of scientific rigor as the choice of these particular outside scientists falls short of due diligence. [...] Cultural Affairs should remand this dispute to the jurisdiction of a scientific academy that at least has some notion of what objectivity is."

Saturday 23 February

• *** Today's Albuquerque Journal tells us that Ethics Panelist Calls Museum Flap Baseless. The story is that one of the reviewers, Norm Silberling, had written a letter to the DCA three days before the inquiry, pre-emptively proclaiming Lucas's innocence. The Albuquerque Journal has a copy of the letter [local mirror].

  Read more about this "independent inquiry".

• The Reptipage feels that the current review seems like cronyism at work.
• *** Science Ethics specialist Janet D. Stemwedel's Adventures in Ethics and Science blog asks: How committed are paleontologists to objectivity (in questions of ethical conduct)? and concludes that "it's hard to believe that an objective hearing of the ethics charges was an outcome, or even a goal, of the NMMNHS panel's deliberation."
• Laelaps (Brian Switek) discusses Silberling's pre-judgement of the allegations, concluding "I am disgusted by the behavior of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Silberling, and the present review seems to be an attempt to placate critics while protecting Lucas and his colleagues."
• John Hawkes, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, uses Aetogate to discuss students' vulnerability to academic theft, noting that the culprits are usually "people who already are masters of the strategies junior people can use for redress, and who therefore are well situated to game the system in order to get away with it."

Thursday 21 February

• *** Today's Albuquerque Journal tells us Panel to Examine Museum Ethics Flap: "Members of the museum's executive committee and two outside experts will meet in closed session to review allegations that Lucas and some of his colleagues took credit for work done by other scientists [...] One of the outside experts brought in to review the case, retired New Mexico Bureau of Mines geologist Orin Anderson, has collaborated with Lucas on scientific publications in the past."

Tuesday 19 February

• Science Ethics specialist Janet D. Stemwedel's Adventures in Ethics and Science blog uses Aetogate as a jumping-off point to ask: How can I stand up to misbehavior in my field?

Friday 15 February

• (Belatedly, since this was posted on 6 February.)
  Mickey Rowe, co-moderator with Mary Kirkaldy of The Dinosaur Mailing List, (DML) posted a summary under the title Standing up for what's right, and added a page to the DML site. He also wrote a letter to the DCA, copied to the Governor and Attorney General of New Mexico.

Monday 11 February

• New Mexicans for Science and Reason carries a brief summary and notes that when NMSR offered Dr. Lucas the opportunity to comment on the allegations in detail, his reply was only that the story is "beneath criticism".

Sunday 10 February

• *** Today's Albuquerque Journal runs an editorial beginning "With the good name of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science under a cloud, a formal review of complaints against acting Director Spencer Lucas is urgently needed" and concluding "appropriate behavior, especially for a group of professional fossil-hunters, would be digging for the truth."
• The same issue of the Albuquerque Journal also carries a relevant political cartoon [local copy].

Friday 8 February

• *** The front page of today's Albuquerque Journal carries the follow-up story Museum Ethics Spat May Get New Review. (Sit through a commercial to get non-subscriber access.) This is real progress. The key quote, from Stuart Ashman of the Department of Cultural Affairs, is: ``I agree that saying "no merit" is not enough of an answer [...] "There isn't [a written record of the previous investigation]. There should be."

Wednesday 6 February

• Since this page seems to doubling as a "latest news" page, I should mention that we have added a new what professional palaeontologists are saying page to this site: www.miketaylor.org.uk/dino/nm/comments.html

Tuesday 5 February

• Mike Keesey weighs in with a discussion of Aetosaur Aethics and the Future of Scientific Publication.
• *** Kevin Padian's substantial comment on the first of the Adventures in Ethics and Science articles offers some refreshingly forthright opinions on the issues. Padian is a widely respected evolutionary biologist and was an expert witness at the Dover intelligent design trial.
• The Reptipage has a discussion of matter focussing on peer-review.
• *** Kevin Padian again, this time with comment on Rex Dalton's Nature article (page down to the eighth comment) on the subject of whether the NMMNHS Bulletin is or is not a peer-reviewed journal. Several of the other comments are also very interesting.

Monday 4 February

• David Hone's blog discusses the failure of peer review at the NMMNHS.
• Janet D. Stemwedel's Adventures in Ethics and Science returns to the story a third time with Who has the biggest snakepit? Stemwedel specialises in scientific ethics.

Sunday 3 February

• *** The front page of today's Albuquerque Journal is carrying the story Museum Boss Faces Ethics Charge. (Unfortunately, it is necessary to sit through a commercial before viewing the story, but it doesn't take long.) This is significant as it is the first coverage of the story in the mainstream (not science-specific) media. At the time of writing, this story is at the top of the Most Requested list.

Saturday 2 February

• *** Today's front page of ScienceBlogs is leading with The Aetosaur Whistle-Blowing Saga. (Saved screenshot and printout.)
• Stephen Sorrell has a brief report.
• BioEd Online seems to have republished the Nature article.
  UPDATE: as of Thursday 7 February, this article is no longer available.
• Michael J. Ryan's Palaeoblog has the report.
• Dinochick (ReBecca Hunt) discusses the need to be able to trust our colleagues.
• *** Kim Hannula's blog All of my faults are stress related asks: So now how am I supposed to teach my students not to plagiarize?

Friday 1 February

• Christopher Taylor's blog Catalogue of Organisms asks What Would the ICZN Do?.
• *** Bora Zivkovic's blog A Blog Around The Clock asks Who's scooping whom and why this matters?. Zivkovic is Online Community Manager at PLoS-ONE.
• One Big Lab has an article discussing the implications of this on opennesss in science.
• *** The Ethical Palaeontologist (Julia Heathcote) has posted a long and detailed discussion.
• *** Janet D. Stemwedel's Adventures in Ethics and Science returns to the story with an analysis of the attitude that says this isn't important. Stemwedel specialises in scientific ethics.

Thursday 31 January

• *** Darren Naish has an entry on his Tetrapod Zoology site. (Disclosure: Darren is one of us.)
• The Gene Expression blog, on ScienceBlogs, has a brief comment.
• *** Janet D. Stemwedel's blog Adventures in Ethics and Science has a thorough discussion. Stemwedel specialises in scientific ethics.
• The Nature story is discussed in an article on Slashdot, the news-for-nerds site.
• Andy Farke's blog The Open Source Paleontologist discusses this story under the title The Open Access Dissertation.

Wednesday 30 January

• *** Rex Dalton's article at Nature News. [PDF]
• Dinochick (ReBecca Hunt) covered the story in a blog entry.
• Laelaps (Brian Switek) has a blog entry.
• Loren Coleman has an entry on his cryptozoological blog.

If you find any coverage that's not yet mentioned here, please let us know at nm@miketaylor.org.uk

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