{"id":884,"date":"2009-11-11T18:10:49","date_gmt":"2009-11-11T17:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=884"},"modified":"2010-08-28T14:00:23","modified_gmt":"2010-08-28T13:00:23","slug":"liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/site\/blog\/icons\/lizwager.jpg\" alt=\"Liz Wager\" width=\"162\" height=\"110\" align=\"left\" \/> I\u2019m just back from Washington DC, where we held the first US meeting of <a title=\"COPE\" href=\"http:\/\/publicationethics.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">COPE<\/a> (the Committee on Publication Ethics). Engraved onto the building housing part of the <a title=\"National Academy of Sciences\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nasonline.org\/site\/PageServer\" target=\"_blank\">National Academy of Sciences <\/a>is a quote from Einstein which could serve as the COPE motto if we had one. It reads: &#8220;The right to search for truth also implies a duty: one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true.&#8221;<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Intrigued by this quote (which I have to admit I hadn\u2019t come across before) I wanted some more context, and discovered that it comes from a piece on academic freedom which Einstein wrote in 1954, which was the height of the <a title=\"McCarthyism\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/McCarthyism\" target=\"_blank\">McCarthy\u00a0witch hunts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The full text reads: \u201cBy academic freedom I understand the right to search for truth and to publish and teach what one holds to be true. This right also implies a duty: one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true. It is evident that any restriction of academic freedom acts in such a way as to hamper the dissemination of knowledge among the people and thereby impedes rational judgment and action.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Back here in the UK, where the dismissal of the government\u2019s science advisor, <a title=\"David Nutt\" href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/health\/healthnews\/6470090\/Three-more-drug-advisers-quit-over-sacking-of-Professor-David-Nutt.html\" target=\"_blank\">David Nutt<\/a>, is still resonating in the press, these words seemed especially relevant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m just back from Washington DC, where we held the first US meeting of COPE (the Committee on Publication Ethics). Engraved onto the building housing part of the National Academy [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1404],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liz-wager"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m just back from Washington DC, where we held the first US meeting of COPE (the Committee on Publication Ethics). Engraved onto the building housing part of the National Academy [...]More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-11-11T17:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-08-28T13:00:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/site\/blog\/icons\/lizwager.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bmj_latest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\"},\"headline\":\"Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-11-11T17:10:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-28T13:00:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":232,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.bmj.com\\\/site\\\/blog\\\/icons\\\/lizwager.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Liz Wager\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom - The BMJ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.bmj.com\\\/site\\\/blog\\\/icons\\\/lizwager.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-11-11T17:10:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-28T13:00:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.bmj.com\\\/site\\\/blog\\\/icons\\\/lizwager.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.bmj.com\\\/site\\\/blog\\\/icons\\\/lizwager.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/11\\\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"description\":\"Helping doctors make better decisions.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The BMJ\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/files\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg\",\"width\":852,\"height\":568,\"caption\":\"The BMJ\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/bmjdotcom\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/bmj_latest\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\",\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"BMJ\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/bmj\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom - The BMJ","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom - The BMJ","og_description":"I\u2019m just back from Washington DC, where we held the first US meeting of COPE (the Committee on Publication Ethics). Engraved onto the building housing part of the National Academy [...]More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/","og_site_name":"The BMJ","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","article_published_time":"2009-11-11T17:10:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-08-28T13:00:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/site\/blog\/icons\/lizwager.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"BMJ","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bmj_latest","twitter_site":"@bmj_latest","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"BMJ","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/"},"author":{"name":"BMJ","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe"},"headline":"Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom","datePublished":"2009-11-11T17:10:49+00:00","dateModified":"2010-08-28T13:00:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/"},"wordCount":232,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/site\/blog\/icons\/lizwager.jpg","articleSection":["Liz Wager"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/","name":"Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom - The BMJ","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/site\/blog\/icons\/lizwager.jpg","datePublished":"2009-11-11T17:10:49+00:00","dateModified":"2010-08-28T13:00:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/site\/blog\/icons\/lizwager.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/site\/blog\/icons\/lizwager.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2009\/11\/11\/liz-wager-on-einstein-david-nutt-and-academic-freedom\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Liz Wager on Einstein, David Nutt, and academic freedom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","name":"The BMJ","description":"Helping doctors make better decisions.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#organization","name":"The BMJ","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2018\/05\/The-BMJ-logo.jpg","width":852,"height":568,"caption":"The BMJ"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bmjdotcom\/","https:\/\/x.com\/bmj_latest"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe","name":"BMJ","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"BMJ"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}