Changes

Jump to navigation Jump to search

GreenFacts Foundation

47 bytes removed, 04:32, 14 December 2007
SW: →‎Activities: add sub-heads, resort material and condense
==Activities==
==="Peer Review" Process===GreenFacts states that its mission is "to bring complex scientific consensus reports on health and the environment to the reach of non-specialists."<ref name="mission statement">[http://about.greenfacts.org/organization/mission.htm "GreenFacts' "Mission Statement"], accessed October 2007.</ref> However, as written below, some also perceive it as being active in the policy debate.
The main activity of GreenFacts is the publication of [http://www.greenfacts.org/en/index.htm "GreenFacts Digests"], which it describes as "clear and faithful summaries of existing scientific reports on environmental and health topics: GreenFacts Digests and GreenFacts Co-Publications". <ref>GreenFacts, [http://about.greenfacts.org/index.htm "About GreenFacts"], accessed December 2007.</ref> Once a topic has been agreed on, the source reports are selected by the GreenFacts Scientific Board.<ref>GreenFacts, [http://about.greenfacts.org/publications/digests.htm "GreenFacts Digests"], accessed December 2007.</ref> The President of the [http://about.greenfacts.org/whos-who/scientific-board.htm Scientific Board ] appoints a review coordinator from amongst board members. They in turn supervise the organisations "peer-review" process, including the selection of three reviewers described as "among the impartial scientific experts in the field". The "peer reviewers" are usually  As part of the publication process<ref>[http://about.greenfacts.org/publications/process.htm "GreenFacts Digests' Publication Process"]</ref>, GreenFacts' summaries are peer-reviewed by at least three people drawn from the foundation's "panel of experts", which also includes those from both industry and some non-government organisations that are sometimes consulted in a "pre-review" process. <ref>[http://about.greenfacts.org/whos-who/panel-of-experts.htm "GreenFacts' Panel of Experts"].</ref>  ===Handling Conflicts of Interest===On its website GreenFacts states that "the scientists involved in the drafting or the review of the Digests must inform the Board of Directors and the SB [Scientific Board] of possible conflicts of interests." <ref>GreenFacts Foundation[http://about.greenfacts.org/publications/peer-review.htm "The Digests' Peer-review process"], accessed December 2007.</ref>
However, there is limited disclosure of information to the public which would enable those outside the organisation to determine whether actual or potential conflicts of interests exist. The authors and "peer reviewers" of digests are not disclosed on the reports. The biographical details posted on the groups website on members of the Scientific Board - who select the source documents - are cursory and do not provide any details of current or past consultancy affiliations. <ref>[http://about.greenfacts.org/whos-who/scientific-board.htm "GreenFacts' Scientific Board"], accessed December 2007. </ref> The individual digests list who was involved in the preparation of the report and its "peer review". However, it is unclear what disclosure standards are required of reviewers.
As part of the publication process<ref>[http://about.greenfacts.org/publications/process.htm "GreenFacts Digests' Publication Process"]</ref>, GreenFacts' summaries are peer-reviewed by at least three independent experts under the control of [http://about.greenfacts.org/whos-who/scientific-board.htm GreenFacts' Scientific Board]. The names of most of the experts involved in the preparation of GreenFacts Digests are listed on GreenFacts' website<ref>[http://about.greenfacts.org/whos-who/panel-of-experts.htm "GreenFacts' Panel of Experts"]</ref>, adding credibility to the organisation. ===Reports===
Some of the reports are on environment and health topics, such as:
* the 2001 and 2007 [[IPCC]] assessment reports on climate change<ref name="TAR Digest"/> <ref>[http://www.greenfacts.org/en/climate-change-ar4/index.htm "GreenFacts' summary of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report"]</ref>,
In 2006, GreenFacts started producing, for the [[European Commission]], summaries of scientific reports of the Scientific Committees of the [http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/index_en.htm European Commission's Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection], which are published on the European Commission's website <ref> [http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/popularizing/popularizing_results_en.htm "Bringing the results of the Scientific Committees closer to the public"], [[European Commission]]'s Website</ref> using GreenFacts' Three-Level Structure. The shorter summary is also published on the [http://copublications.greenfacts.org/en/index.htm "Co-Publications" section of GreenFacts website].
==GreenFacts Web Strategy== To boost the number of visitors on its website and increase its credibility as an objective and balanced organisation, GreenFacts has been actively calling and emailing many organisations and individuals, including environmental groups, universities, governments and [[UN]] agencies around the world, in order to establish website link exchanges. GreenFacts publishes a list of [http://www.greenfacts.org/links/links-exchanges.htm some of the sites linking to its website] with the disclaimer that "these web sites are NOT necessarily endorsed by the GreenFacts Scientific Board".
==Criticism==
developer, editor
60,576

edits

Navigation menu