The Role of Metadiscourse in Negotiating Trust in the Communication of Science by Blog

119-142Advocates for open systems in science make claims for their efficient collaboration and transparent communication. Although these characteristics are consistent with the traditional norms of science, the implementation of open systems has had mixed effects, particularly on the role of trust. This case study of the published correspondence in research journals suggests that when communication moves from traditional print systems to open on-line systems, two levels of trust arise, one at the discourse level and another at the metadiscourse level. The coincidence and conflation of discourse in these two registers both ameliorate and trouble trust in the communication of science. Taken together, these methodological issues raise doubts about the validity of Wolfe-Simon et al.’s assertion … (Redfield, 2011). I don’t know whether the authors are just bad scientists or whether they’re unscrupulously pushing NASA’s ‘There’s life in outer space!’ agenda (Redfield, 2010)

The Role of Metadiscourse in Negotiating Trust in the Communication of Science by Blog

Advocates for open systems in science make claims for their efficient collaboration and transparent communication. Although these characteristics are consistent with the traditional norms of science, the implementation of open systems has had mixed effects, particularly on the role of trust. This case study of the published correspondence in research journals suggests that when communication moves from traditional print systems to open on-line systems, two levels of trust arise, one at the discourse level and another at the metadiscourse level. The coincidence and conflation of discourse in these two registers both ameliorate and trouble trust in the communication of science

Response to Comments on "A Bacterium That Can Grow Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus"

Concerns have been raised about our recent study describing a bacterium that can grow using arsenic (As) instead of phosphorus (P). Our data suggested that As could act as a substitute for P in major biomolecules in this organism. Although the issues raised are of investigative interest, we contend that they do not invalidate our conclusions. We argue that while no single line of evidence we presented was sufficient to support our interpretation of the data, taken as an entire dataset we find no plausible alternative to our conclusions. Here we reply to the critiques and provide additional arguments supporting the assessment of the data we reported

Response to comments on A bacterium that can grow using arsenic instead of phosphorus

Concerns have been raised about our recent study suggesting that arsenic (As) substitutes for phosphorus in major biomolecules of a bacterium that tolerates extreme As concentrations. We welcome the opportunity to better explain our methods and results and to consider alternative interpretations. We maintain that our interpretation of As substitution, based on multiple congruent lines of evidence, is viable