Commentary: Focus on the Research, Not the Researcher

May 01, 2023 1 min read

Commentary: Focus on the Research, Not the Researcher

by Sally Satel, Persuasion

A foundational principle of truth-seeking is the norm of universalism: the concept that work must be judged on its own merits.

When this principle is applied to academic journals, it means that the studies—the hypotheses being tested, methods used, and interpretations presented—should speak for themselves.  But authors are now distorting that process with so-called “positionality statements.” These disclosures are included in the body of research papers and describe personal attributes of the authors, like their identities, experiences, and societal advantages.


Leave a comment


Also in National Free Speech News & Commentary

Commentary: The University of California: At War With Its Own Proud Speech Tradition (Narrated Version)

October 21, 2024 1 min read

Matt Taibbi and Racket Staff
Racket News

Excerpt: In his new “FOIA Files” writeup of the 1,400 pages of Freedom of Information documents Racket received from the University of California, Irvine, James Rushmore highlights an extraordinary Academic Advisory Board meeting, convened at the height of the pandemic in December, 2020.

In it, UC faculty members are so angry about academics defying Covid-19 consensus, they start to re-think academic freedom.
Read More
‘Institutional Neutrality Applies to Actions—Not Just Words’

October 21, 2024 1 min read

Josh Moody
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: Vanderbilt University chancellor Daniel Diermeier has emerged as a strong advocate for institutional neutrality in recent years, arguing that institutions often go beyond their core mission when they strike stances on public issues. He expounded on those views in an interview with Inside Higher Ed in which he discussed the growing number of institutions that have adopted institutional neutrality and how tensions in the Middle East and related protests on campuses are driving university leaders to rethink how they engage on contentious issues at home and abroad.
Read More
College Officials Must Condemn On-Campus Support for Hamas Violence

October 20, 2024 1 min read

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/20/opinion/hamas-colleges-free-speech.html?unlocked_article_code=1.T04.MQMi.lC3J1RNGPlWu&smid=url-share
Read More