Cancer Research and new standards for Independent Scholarship
Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship (General Partnership)
Independent Scholarship is not doomed, it just needs to be shaped and managed to address new challenges
- How to ensure that research is not 'fake. Some scholars who use AI in a genuine way *to help them write up or compile literature reviews for genuine contributions to knowledge
Some other folks may prenend to be scholars but, they are not experts nor reserchers in a subject, but use AI to spew up great papers. That sure is a sign of intelligence, but it is purposely deceitful.
- How to ensure that interesting and important research is 'valid' even with limited peer review *we know that there is a lot of rubbish in scientific journals, that many journals are fakes themselves. etc etc
We need to become expert research administrators evaluators of different types of scholarship across disciplines
Its a challenge for the next generation of independent scholarship so let's face it
Here is our first case
Murad has recently joined this Group. He seems genuine, has great work *disclaimer, I do not understand much of what he writes about. Offers to help us set up emails for scholars using his company infastructure. That is GREAT!! Thank you Murad for the introduction and sharing your work.
Now we need to make sure that he is a genuine researcher, so in the first place we have asked him to give a short talk illustrating his work as we welcome him here as a new scholar
Mind you, anyone good at AI would be able to generate a great talk without understanding anything about what he says. But we are scholars. We can run Turing tests for scholars if they are fake or not.
Below a few criteria for evaluating cancer research. (please help to improve them, feel free to comment)
We have asked Murad to explain how his work relates to good practices, so that we can be sure he understands his field enough to gain our trust *and administer our email addresses
Murad, we look forward to make sure that you are a genuine human, that you understand your field of practice, and that your scholarship is lawful *since cancer research is hevily regulated
We'd like to considering your very kind offer of technical support
I am sharing separately a DRAFT user agreement for discussion to anyone interested
Paola Di Maio
Guidance for Ronin Scholars engaging in cancer research
Regulations for cancer research vary by country, but everywhere they are built on common ethical, scientific, and safety principles. Below is a clear, structured overview of the main regulatory systems and requirements that govern cancer research internationally.
(This is informational, not legal advice.)
1. Core Ethical Foundations (Global)
Cancer research involving humans or human biological materials is governed by internationally recognized ethical frameworks:
Framework / Document
Purpose
Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association)
Sets ethical standards for human research, including informed consent and risk-benefit evaluation.
Belmont Report (U.S. influence globally)
Defines core ethical principles: respect for persons, beneficence, justice.
ICH-GCP Guidelines (International Council for Harmonisation – Good Clinical Practice)
Provides global standards for designing, conducting, and reporting clinical trials.