[prolly_a_moron]

>If you press, it usually comes down to, "Doing the best we can," which is nice for gymnastics, but less so for published research.

If "doing the best we can" is too low of a standard for research, then it's all garbage. Yes, there are many problems with some of the research out there, but you deal with it, not ignore it all. The purpose is to reduce uncertainty, not "get the right answer".

[M_Grey]

You're absolutely preaching to the choir here, but I don't know how to communicate that sentiment to people for whom it isn't gospel, without them getting really huffy about it. Being gentle doesn't help, they're too defensive most of the time.

[im3w1l]

Doing-the-best-we-can science is valuable. But we should be careful about turning it into policy. I'd rather stick with tradition than very uncertain science.

[M_Grey]

Who suggested anything about turning this into more than a personal policy?

Edit: Not to mention that if you want to publish "tradition", don't call it "science".