Recent revelations of hidden data have bolstered a growing movement against what’s referred to within the research community as “publication bias,” in which scientists squirrel away mostly negative or inconclusive findings and broadcast only their positive ones. Concealing trial data–for which patients accept the risks of untested treatments for the greater good–is routine. As many as half of all clinical trials are never published, and the consequences of exclusion or delay of trial data have ranged from frustration to mass fatalities.
