Current Issue

Threats to Science: Politicization, Misinformation, and Inequalities
Special Editor: James N. Druckman

Vol. 700, March 2022

Science is vulnerable to threats that undermine its usefulness. In this volume of The ANNALS, special editor James N. Druckman argues that politicization, misinformation, and growing socioeconomic inequalities are the most significant threats to science today, and articles from contributing authors explain the origins, scale and potential impact of these threats. From the deep roots of politicized science to the weaponization of misinformation to long-standing inequalities within the scientific enterprise, this volume brings evidence that illuminates these current threats to science. As Druckman explains, the assembled articles show how contemporary threats to science “have serious consequences. Yet the ingenuity that has generated transformative science can also be used to address threats and help science to play a role in improving societal well-being. That much is clear from the articles in this volume.”

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From the Archives

Truth as a Weapon in the Free World
Vol. 278, November, 1951
Richard Brecker

From the Introduction

In an address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on April 20, 1950, President Truman declared that it was necessary for us to “make ourselves heard round the world in a great campaign of truth.” Calling attention to the vital importance of the psychological front in the present battle for world friendship, the President noted that the task of presenting the truth “to the millions who are uninformed or misinformed or unconvinced… is not separate and distinct from other elements of our foreign policy. It is as important as armed strength or economic aid.  ‘We must,’ he said, ‘pool our efforts with those of the other free peoples in a sustained, intensified program to promote the cause of freedom against the propaganda of slavery.'”