Canon Fodder-A Case for Contrarian Science

Circ Res. 2016 Aug 19;119(5):584-6. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.309519.

Abstract

Cannon fodder are expendable soldiers deployed as “food” for enemy cannon fire when there is no hope of ultimately prevailing: generals dispose of “worthless” soldiers by sacrificing them to the cannon. Here, I adopt the term Canon fodder to describe contrarian scientific concepts dismissed because they do not conform to conventional wisdom: reviewers dispose of “unworthy” science by sacrificing it to the canon.

Keywords: endothelin; heart failure; hemodynamic; hypertension; hypertrophy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Biomedical Research / methods
  • Biomedical Research / trends*
  • Cardiology / methods
  • Cardiology / trends*
  • Humans
  • Peer Review / methods
  • Peer Review / trends*