Journal leaders express concern over EPA’s proposed ‘transparency’ rule

The editors-in-chief of six major journals just issued a joint statement of concern over the EPA’s proposed rule to ensure that the science and data used to inform new policies is transparent and readily available to the public. This is the second time the chiefs of Science, Nature, The Lancet, Cell Press, PLOS, and PNAS have spoken out against the rule, which was introduced in April last year. In their new statement, the editors urge caution over relying on completely transparent data, saying that many scientific studies cannot share data because of confidentiality of subjects. At the same time, the leaders are also seeking clarity on how the new rule would be applied to environmental health policies already in place. Losing out on valuable foundational studies, the authors write, “would be a catastrophe.”