For some time I have had the impression that research into SCAM is on its knees. Specifically, I seemed to notice that less and less of it is getting published in the best journals of conventional medicine. So, today I decided to put my impression to the test.
I went on Medline and serached for ‘COMPLEMENTARY ALTERNATIVE THERAPY + NEJM or Ann Int Med or Lancet or JAMA. This gave me the number of papers each of these four top medical journals published during the last decades. These figures alone seemed to indicate that I was on to something. To get a more reliable overall pivture, I added them up to get the total number of SCAM articles per year published in all four jurnals. As these figures indicated a lot of noise, I grouped them into periods of 4 years.
Here are the results:
- Number of papers in the four journals published between 1999 and 2002 =115
- Number of papers in the four journals published between 2003 and 2006 = 44
- Number of papers in the four journals published between 2007 and 2010 = 20
- Number of papers in the four journals published between 2011 and 2014 = 23
- Number of papers in the four journals published between 2015 and 2018 = 38
- Number of papers in the four journals published between 2019 and 2022 = 36
These figures confirm my suspicion: top medical journals publish far less SCAM articles than they once used to. But how do we interpret this finding?
The way I see it, there are several possible explanations:
- The editors are becoming increasingly anti-SCAM.
- Less and less SCAM research is of high enough quality to merit publication in a top journal.
- Numerous SCAM journals have sprung up which absorb most of the SCAM research but which are largely ignored by the broader medical community.
Personally, I think all of these explanations apply. They are the expression of a phenomenon that I discussed often before: over the years, SCAM has managed to discredit and isolate itself. Thus, it is no longer taken seriously and in danger of becoming a bizarre cult.
I fear that serious healthcare professionals get increasingly irritated by:
- the embarrassing unreliability of much of SCAM research (as discussed so many times on this blog);
- the fact that some research group manage to publish nothing but positive results (see my ‘ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME);
- the news that a substantial proportion of SCAM research seems fabricated (see, for instance, here);
- the fact that too much of SCAM research is of dismal quality (as disclosed regularly on this blog);
- the fact that many SCAM proponents are unable of (self)critical thinking (as demonstrated regualrly by the comments left on this blog).
If I am correct, this would mean that, in the long-term, one of the biggest enemy of SCAM are the SCAM researchers who, instead of testing hypotheses, abuse science by trying to confirm their hypotheses. As Bert Brecht said: the opposite of good is not evil, but good intentions.
6 Responses to I fear that so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) research is in serious trouble
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It is not important to be published in a renowned magazine. It is important to be published at all.
The risk of being rejected by a renowned magazine is high. Being caught with a rejected article is risky. So it is better to avoid being rejected – and publish in a less renowned magazine.
Publishing an article about a neurological topic is … publishing an article about a neurological topic. But, and here we have one more high risk, being rejected by a neurological magazine is bad. So better avoid being rejected and publish that article in a magazine about, say, sports. The sports guys have no clues on neurology, so the risk of getting rejected is low, and the risk of being bashed by the readers for having written nonsense also is low.
This sounds silly? Yes, it is silly, but what I described is EXACTLY what a large number of SCAM artists does. It is much easier for them to publish a vast number of articles in off-topic magazines. The target people (probable patients/clients) have no idea about all of this. And they have not the slightest clue about magazines, which are ONLY made to publish this kind of de facto advertising.
It is advertising. And it is (not so very) cheap, but payable.
And the rest is silence…
I feel that as most people are now fully aware of the realities of “gold standards” such as Peer-review, p-hacking/cherry-picking and the other things that I haven’t been educated about by the vast, lawful, helpful, online sources, the bad/brainwashed people are moving to other methods (increased lobbying?).
Maybe it is likely that SCAM followers are easily much more likely to avoid anything officialdom related, for the same reasons I might avoid officialdom these days (it seems to get tangled up with purely financially interested lobby/pressure groups), so , they just go to their local “cult”? guru?
I don’t follow SCAM myself, just for clarification, so I suppose I’m in the void where I will more than likely die early due to avoiding Mainstream medicine based on apathy more than its corruption allegations. (World Health Organisation kowtowing to its main members “alternative medicine” pushing – Indian and Chinese traditional medicine, etc)
Please excuse my lack of a full rounded answer but I am beaten by the system, lol, and the apathy upon realisation that GigaMonopoly (where countries are the big hotels on the “Earth” board) and feeding shareholders, is all that matters now, that there are no official bodies that will help you in a crisis, unless they get their blood money, has squashed me into a little silver shoe piece, complete with tattered shoelaces and some holes patched up.
Lol.
I even stopped reading this website much, due to the fact that Edzard hasn’t realised he is flogging a large dead horse, that still seems to be alive by the miracles of succession, some eye of newt, some wood from a water divining twig, a cow skull buried in the ground for 3 years, a reiki healed wi-fi hair sample giving distant prayers, a bit of ayurveda powder, a hint of internal sunlight generating tablet, some genesis magic bleach water and many others.
P
I’m often accused of being a SCAMer (scam promoter/scam artist etc). However, for over 30 years I’ve been promoting the many benefits obtained from Plant Based Nutrition (PBN), so perhaps I could best be described as a PBNer?
The question I put to the learned academics and assorted medics on this platform is simply this: What is the exact legal, scientific or medical definition of SCAM? What actually defines scam? Is it simply a matter of perspective as someone once said? Answers to this question are welcome.
In the meantime, a SCAM recommendation I often include in my newsletters is to consider the fruit, oil and leaf (makes a light and refreshing tea) sourced from the humble Olive tree. Here is a recent published study that may interest open-minded folks who are looking to optimise their health and well-being … enjoy! https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2818362
“The question I put to the learned academics and assorted medics on this platform is simply this: What is the exact legal, scientific or medical definition of SCAM? What actually defines scam? Is it simply a matter of perspective as someone once said? Answers to this question are welcome.”
See section 1.2 “Definition of SCAM and Related Terms” on pages 5-8 of “So-called Alternative Medicine for Cancer” by Professor Ernst, Springer, 2021.
Is that it – just one person’s opinion? I can point to numerous and conflicting definitions of SCAM. Interestingly, you made no mention of my main point – Plant Based Nutrition (PBN) and its value to human-kind, why is that I wonder?
I would be seriously concerned if CAM articles had been published in the main Medical journals when so much is fraudulent.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02299-w