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Published on: July 26, 2019
Alternative treatments in reproductive medicine. The vexing problem of 'seemingly impeccable trials...'
1Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, C9-P, P.O.Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands. j.p.vandenbroucke@lumc.nl
Abstract:
The problem of 'seemingly impeccable trials' that produce unbelievable results is approached from basic notions of the philosophy of science: facts and theory are interdependent, and 'crucial experiments' do not exist. This does not lead to an 'anything goes' attitude, but obliges us to consider arguments and counter-arguments in the spirit of the 'crossword' analogy by Susan Haack. The role of editors and readers might be different: while editors might be under some obligation to publish 'seemingly impeccable trials', readers are not obliged to accept the findings.
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