For decades, Western scientists and policymakers dismissed China’s research boom as a matter of quantity over quality. Those days are over. In 2024, China achieved what seemed impossible just a few years ago, overtaking the United States in the number of publications appearing in the world’s most prestigious scientific journals.

This U.S. federal government shut down may be different, and far more devastating, for the federal workers, including scientists, who live and work across the nation.

Author of Science Under Siege warns that disinformation around science puts humanity at risk

Between January 20th and August 31st 2025, there have been 479 attacks on science, which undermine, co-opt, or blatantly ignore science in the federal government. These attacks follow the plan laid out in Project 2025.

We know from other countries and contexts that aspiring authoritarians often target scientists, elevate loyalists, and suppress or sideline any who might have the knowledge, expertise, or power to challenge government transgression and failures to make science-based policy decisions. In response to such threats, the US scientific community can work to rebuild critical elements of the federal science enterprise now being dismantled or compromised, including science advisory committees and scientific assessments, which for decades have helped ensure that the best available science informs policy decisions.

Here’s where “follow the science” went wrong.

A growing research field known as 'the science of science' will be essential for navigating an uncertain future.