Open Science: Who is paying?

It’s the Open Science fairy story: Brian Nosek was one of a number of young researchers worried that all didn’t seem right in the research world. To what extent was research really producing trustworthy findings? To what extent was it a weird game with the main aim of getting statistical significance and journal publication? But he couldn’t get funding to develop his ideas. Then came the email from John Arnold, which led to money, and the launch of the Center for Open Science in 2013.

John had made a lot of money for Enron and managed to leave the company with a handy few million just before the implosion. He went on to make lots more money as a trader. At age 38 he switched from earning money to using it to try to do good in the world. Now the Laura and John Arnold Foundation is a major funder of the Center for Open Science, and other efforts to improve how science is done, including METRICS, the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford.

A new article in Wired tells the story and is a gripping read. Enjoy, and be happy that some rich folks are thinking so clearly and acting so productively!

Geoff