---
title: "Science by press conference"
chunk: 1/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_by_press_conference"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:25:42.668788+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Science by press conference or science by press release is the practice by which scientists put an unusual focus on publicizing results of research in the news media via press conferences or press releases. The term is usually used disparagingly, to suggest that the seekers of publicity are promoting claims of questionable scientific merit, using the media for attention as they are unlikely to win the approval of the scientific community.
Premature publicity violates a cultural value of most of the scientific community, which is that findings should be subjected to independent review with a "thorough examination by the scientific community" before they are widely publicized. The standard practice is to publish a paper in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. This idea has many merits, including that the scientific community has a responsibility to conduct itself in a deliberative, non-attention seeking way; and that its members should be oriented more towards the pursuit of insight than fame. Science by press conference in its most egregious forms can be undertaken on behalf of an individual researcher seeking fame, a corporation seeking to sway public opinion or investor perception, or a political or ideological movement.

== Etymology ==
The phrase was coined by Spyros Andreopoulos, a public affairs officer at Stanford University Medical School, in a 1980 letter which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. Andreopoulos was commenting specifically on the publicity practices of biotechnology startups, including Biogen and Genentech. The journal in which it appeared had implemented a long-standing policy under editor Franz J. Ingelfinger which prohibited seeking publicity for research prior to its submission or publication, informally called the Ingelfinger Rule.

== Notable examples ==
In 1989, chemists Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann held a press conference to claim they had successfully achieved cold fusion. (Highlighting the complexity of defining the term, Pons and Fleischman technically had an accepted paper in press at a peer-reviewed journal at the time of their press conference, though that was not widely acknowledged at the time, and the quality of the paper and its review were later criticized.)
In 1998, Andrew Wakefield held a press conference to claim that the MMR vaccine caused autism. In January 2011, an article by Brian Deer and its accompanying editorial in BMJ identified Wakefield's work as an "elaborate fraud".
In 2002, a group called Clonaid held a press conference to announce they had successfully achieved human cloning.
In 2005, the European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences (ERF) reported their findings from testing aspartame on rats. Their studies were widely criticized and later discounted.
In September 2012, Gilles-Éric Séralini held a press conference to claim that genetically modified food caused terrible cancers in rats, on the eve of the publication of a scientific paper, a book publication, and a movie release, and in the runup to the vote on California Proposition 37,  a GM food-labeling initiative.  As the Séralini affair unfolded, it was revealed that Séralini required journalists to sign confidentiality agreements in order to receive pre-prints of the paper, to prevent them from discussing the paper with independent scientists.  The scientific paper was retracted in 2013.
These cases became notorious examples of "science by press conference" precisely because they were widely reported in the press, but were later rebuffed, debunked, or found to be outright fraud.

== Motivations ==
Competition for publicity, between scientific institutions or just individual researchers, is considered a driving force behind premature press conferences. Pressure to announce research findings quickly enough to "avoid losing credit" for any scientific advances may be enhanced by limited or highly competitive funding.
Science by press conference does not have to involve a groundbreaking announcement. A manufacturer may desire to publicize results of research that suggest their product is safe. Science by press conference does not necessarily have to be directed at the general public. In some cases, it may be directed at a target market such as opinion leaders, a specific industry, potential investors, or a specific group of consumers. Biotechnology companies, for example, have financial incentives to utilize premature press conferences to gain favorable media coverage.
In recent years, sociologists of science have recast discussion about "science by press conference". They point to the increasing presence of media conversation across all aspects of culture, and argue that science is subject to many of the same social forces as other aspects of culture. They have described the increased "medialization" of science, and suggest that both science and society are changed by this process.