%0 journal article
%@ 0963-6625
%A Ungar, S.,Bray, D.

%D 2005
%J Public Understanding of Science
%N 1
%P 5-23 
%R doi:10.1177/0963662505048515
%T Silencing science: partisanship and the career of a publication disputing the dangers of secondhand smoke
%U https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662505048515
1 
%X This paper examines the silencing of science, that is, efforts to prevent the making of specific scientific claims in any or all of the arenas in which these   claims are typically reported or circulated. Those trying to mute the reporting or circulation of scientific claims are termed "partisans." The paper examines silencing through a systematic examination of the "rapid   responses" to a smoking study published in the British Medical Journal claiming that secondhand smoke is not as dangerous as conventionally  believed. Media coverage of the smoking study is also examined, as is the question of whether there is self-silencing by the media regarding doubts about the negative   effects of passive smoke. The results suggest that the public consensus about the negative effects of passive smoke is so strong that it has become part of a regime  of truth that cannot be intelligibly questioned.