Under pressure from industry, how can academics protect themselves?

Question

Our group (western Europe) has submitted a review on a device that generates a lot of money (i.e. US multibillion $ industry). Our results speak mildly against the use of said device, with low confidence in the evidence presented.Since the inception of the study, our corresponding author has been queried multiple times by a VP of the relevant company through email, asking us to share our data (which we refused). Since submission, the VP is asking for a meeting in person and there are rumors of them not being happy about our results (which remain unpublished). We did not respond. In the meantime, the company also reached to our head of dept to express their worries about our work.We are worried about potential retaliation on publication. Our boss (head of dpt, tenured prof, not an author) told us not to worry and discouraged us from seeking legal advice. Neither the study nor our group are financially supported.We are affiliated to a teaching institution, but not to a university directly and do not hold academic/teaching positions. How can we protect ourselves? Are there organisms specializing in / providing (free?) researcher protection?

codingdave · Accepted Answer

I am not an academic, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I would simply reply that you cannot share data before publication, but they certainly can see the published data once it is public, and you could answer questions at that time.Other than that, I don't see anything that implies retaliation. If I owned a product and people were potentially going to publish negative facts about it, I'd be asking for information, too. Not because I want a fight, but because it is simply good practice to understand people's concerns about your product, and have an opportunity to fix the problems.

throwawaybutwhy · Answer

There's some weirdness going on. Please consider asking the mods to disassociate/delete this thread since you're tipping your hand too much and risking your own career and that of your colleagues ('low confidence in the evidence'). Based on your earlier submissions, there might be some superficial semblance of a conflict of interest (this is only my guesswork FWIW).Your posts are definitely not anonymous.

cinntaile · Answer

It's not an answer to your question but what's the reason for not sharing the data?

aborsy · Answer

Protect from what? Do they pay you? Do they serve on academic committees?

jstx1 · Answer

Can you be more clear about your position? Are doing research for a company?
The title suggest that you're academics but then you say that you aren't:
> how can academics protect themselves?
> do not hold academic/teaching positions.
Which one is it?

Under pressure from industry, how can academics protect themselves?

It's not an answer to your question but what's the reason for not sharing the data?

Protect from what? Do they pay you? Do they serve on academic committees?

Can you be more clear about your position? Are doing research for a company?The title suggest that you're academics but then you say that you aren't:> how can academics protect themselves?> do not hold academic/teaching positions.Which one is it?

Can you be more clear about your position? Are doing research for a company?
The title suggest that you're academics but then you say that you aren't:
> how can academics protect themselves?
> do not hold academic/teaching positions.
Which one is it?