Science and the corporate agenda

The report examines how commercial involvement in science and technology introduces bias, marginalises public-interest research, and erodes academic objectivity. It focuses on the pharmaceutical, tobacco, military/defence, oil and gas, and biotechnology sectors, arguing that the 'corporate' mindset encouraged by UK policy undermines the traditional ethos of openness and objectivity in universities.

• Commercial involvement in university-based science and technology can lead to significant bias and the marginalisation of research that offers social and environmental benefits. These effects manifest during individual studies, the R&D agenda-setting process, and the communication of results to the public and policy-makers.
• At the level of individual research, direct commercial funding increases the likelihood of results favouring the funder, often because funders select scientists already sympathetic to their views. While less common, the intentional suppression or distortion of data has occurred, particularly in the tobacco and pharmaceutical sectors.
• The influence of specific industries skews scientific responses to global challenges: the oil and gas industry promotes fossil fuel-based technologies over energy demand control or renewables; the biotechnology industry focuses on high-tech crop yields over poverty or distribution; the pharmaceutical industry may marginalise lifestyle-based disease prevention; and the military sector emphasises weapons over conflict resolution.
• Large companies in the tobacco and oil and gas sectors have used public relations campaigns to encourage interpretations of scientific evidence that differ from the consensus of most scientists. Tactics include covertly funding lobby groups and framing opponents as 'anti-science'.
• UK government policy over the last 20 years has encouraged universities to adopt a 'corporate' mindset, leading to the commodification of knowledge through intellectual property rights and patents, which undermines scientific curiosity and wider public benefit.
• The oil and gas sector, specifically ExxonMobil, has been linked to the promotion of 'climate scepticism', which is the claim that scientific research regarding the threat of climate change is flawed.

APA

Langley, C., & Parkinson, S. (2009). Science and the corporate agenda. Scientists for Global Responsibility. https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-04/SGR_corp_science_summary.pdf

Chicago

Langley, Chris, and Stuart Parkinson. Science and the corporate agenda. Scientists for Global Responsibility, 2009. https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-04/SGR_corp_science_summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Langley |first1=Chris |last2=Parkinson |first2=Stuart |title=Science and the corporate agenda |publisher=Scientists for Global Responsibility |date=September 2009 |url=https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-04/SGR_corp_science_summary.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{langley2009science, author = {Langley, Chris and Parkinson, Stuart}, title = {{Science and the corporate agenda}}, institution = {Scientists for Global Responsibility}, year = {2009}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sgr.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-04/SGR_corp_science_summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }