In science, follow the money – if you can

In science as in politics, most people agree that transparency is essential. Top journals now require authors to disclose their funding sources so that readers can judge the possibility of bias, and the British Medical Journal recently required authors to disclose their data as well so that experts can run independent analyses of the results. But as transparency becomes the standard, many academics are resisting the trend without pushback from their universities.

After researcher Wei-Hock Soon of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics was caught taking money from fossil fuel companies while claiming that climate change is not happening, the Smithsonian Institution revised its disclosure rules this April. Days later, Soon received $65,000 from Donors Trust, an organization that funnels anonymous contributions to conservative causes. According to the Guardian newspaper, Donors Trust has dispensed nearly $120 million to more than 100 groups casting doubt on climate science. Harvard-Smithsonian declined to explain why Soon received the money, and said that simply acknowledging his ties to Donors Trust allows Soon to meet ethical standards.

It's not hard to find examples of...