Jul
4
Guest post: PNAS, facebook and the ethics of online experimentation
This is a guest blog post by Gerry Markopoulos. I'm posting it because I think it is an important topic that deserves wider discussion.
Recently, an article was published in the prestigious journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ (PNAS), titled ‘Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion though social networks’. The article was published online on the 2nd of June, 2014, and it is available here.
I would like to argue that the article needs to be retracted on the basis of violating fundamental ethical principles, it should not have been considered for publication in the first place (on the basis of the journal’s stated principles), and that it could damage the reputation of psychology on an international level.
Recently, an article was published in the prestigious journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ (PNAS), titled ‘Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion though social networks’. The article was published online on the 2nd of June, 2014, and it is available here.
I would like to argue that the article needs to be retracted on the basis of violating fundamental ethical principles, it should not have been considered for publication in the first place (on the basis of the journal’s stated principles), and that it could damage the reputation of psychology on an international level.
