The Fossil Fuel Ties of Medical Research

2024-11-29

BERLIN / LONDON - The team of journalists investigated the financial ties between the fossil fuel industry and medical research. The data analysis reveals over 180 medical articles published in the last six years acknowledging funding and 1000 featuring authors affiliated with fossil fuel companies.

The investigation is based on an analysis of millions of research articles, including information about authors, citations, research organizations, and funders. In light of this, experts call for stronger action against the influence of these health-harming companies on academic research.

The journalists also revealed that most leading medical journals don’t have a policy banning the publishing of fossil fuel tied research.

While many studies don’t have an obvious link with fossil fuel industry interests, experts said that publishing research benefits the companies by enhancing their reputation and buying influence with researchers and health practitioners.

The team filtered for articles that were published between 2019 and 2024. Extensive manual verification was conducted on top of the algorithmic analysis.

The investigation is part of the long term data journalism “Follow the Grant” focusing on financial ties of researchers, medical professionals and opinion leaders.

Image: Pixabay.

Team members

Hristio Boytchev

Hristio Boytchev is a Berlin-based investigative health and science journalist .

Simon Wörpel

Simon Wörpel is an independent investigative data journalist, researcher and leak librarian.

Edgar Zanella Alvarenga

Edgar Zanella Alvarenga is an Italian seasoned software engineer and data scientist.

Supported

€21,000 allocated on 23/02/2022

ENV1/2022/031

Grant

Environmental Journalism

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