Camilli et al. Science magazine Policy Forum (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/337/6102/1608.full.pdf) observe, “Our academic, governmental, and industrial research communities should work together to better align American legal practice with the deliberative process of science.” The authors were required to turn over email records and more to BP related to findings on the Deepwater Horizon blow-out flow rate (paper at http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/12/19/1112139108.full.pdf). They conclude that new federal legislation is required “that protects researchers from legal harassment by interests seeking to silence scientific inquiry or retribution for publishing independent research findings.”
