Paper Mills, Peer Review Problems, P-Hacking & Everything Else BROKEN About Modern Science & Research Journals, With Emily Kaplan

Ben Greenfield

Sep 25, 2025

Episode description

In this episode, Emily Kaplan—co-founder of the Broken Science Initiative (BSI)—pulls back the curtain on systemic flaws undermining modern research. From manipulated data in high-impact journals to misuse of peer review and statistical tools like p-values, Emily reveals how corruption and misconduct shape medicine, including the infamous Alzheimer’s study that misled treatment development for years. She explains how BSI is working to restore trust in science through education, transparency, and a renewed focus on metabolic health. One key effort is MetFix, a grassroots initiative empowering communities to prevent and reverse chronic disease with nutrition and lifestyle interventions.

Emily brings deep expertise in strategy and communication. As BSI’s CEO, she has built educational platforms, training programs, and professional networks that unite healthcare workers, patients, and scientists to confront irreproducibility, misconduct, and the true drivers of chronic illness. Through in-person and online events, BSI fosters communities committed to what’s working—and exposing what’s broken—in modern medicine.

Her career spans journalism, entrepreneurship, and high-level advising. She co-founded The Kleio Group, guiding companies, celebrities, and politicians through strategic communication and crisis. She previously scaled Prep Cosmetics into a national chain, co-developed one of the first geolocation-based dating apps, and founded Prime Fitness and Nutrition, a women’s health concept with three locations. Emily has also hosted the Empowered Health Podcast, authored two books with HarperCollins Leadership, and contributed to ABC News, Boston Magazine, and major outlets.

With degrees from Smith College and

Episode description

With degrees from Smith College and

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Address reproducibility issues in cancer research

In an attempt to verify foundational research, the drug company Amgen found it could only replicate 11 out of 53 hallmark studies in cancer and hematology.

#cancer

#research

Combat paper mills to uphold academic integrity

A growing problem in academia is the existence of "paper mills," where researchers can pay to have their name added to a scientific paper that they didn't work on to boost their publication record for tenure.

#research

Reform peer review system to ensure accountability and fairness

The peer review system for scientific journals often relies on unpaid, anonymous reviewers who may have a collusive, "I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine" relationship with the authors they are reviewing.

#education

#research

Recognize exhaustion in obesity as a result of high insulin levels

Due to chronically high insulin, an obese person's body cannot access its stored fat for energy, trapping them in a state of constant hunger and exhaustion.

#insulin

#obesity

Challenge amyloid plaque theory after retraction of foundational study

The influential 2006 paper that established the amyloid plaque theory of Alzheimer's was based on manipulated images, a fact that took until 2024 for the journal Nature to fully retract.

#Alzheimer's

#research

Focus on absolute risk over relative risk in health headlines

Health headlines often use relative risk to sound dramatic (e.g., a 120% increase), but the more important number is the absolute risk, which is often a tiny fraction of that.

#education

#risk

Avoid p-hacking to ensure research integrity

It is relatively easy for researchers to manipulate study parameters like sample size to achieve a statistically significant P-value, a common practice known as "P-hacking.".

#research

#study

Eliminate seed oils to restore fullness signals and prevent fat accumulation

Seed oils can block the cellular signal (reactive oxygen species) that indicates fullness, causing cells to continue storing nutrients which can lead to fat accumulation on organs.