Robin McKie

The stories entered for the science category emphasize the need for action in response to inadequacies reported in The Observer.

In the first case, Scientists urge GPs to share UK patient data for research into new treatments, Robin revealed that despite several years of pressing for doctors' data to be given to Biobank to help drug development, no action had been taken. He highlighted why this should happen and six weeks after publication, the government intervened and agreed to such a move. That data will soon be shared.

In the second story, Hitler beetle, Trump moth, Beyoncé fly: is it time to rethink naming of species?, Robin highlighted growing concerns among scientists about species named after individuals with racist or other extreme views. Several months later, scientists voted at an international meeting to eliminate the names of plants that are deemed to be racially offensive.

In Robin’s third entry, ‘The situation has become appalling’: fake scientific papers push research credibility to crisis point, he outlined the urgent need to crack down on fake academic work now being plied round the globe. Medical research is being compromised, drug development hindered and promising academic research jeopardised thanks to a global wave of sham science that is sweeping laboratories and universities, Robin warned. In highlighting these dangers, The Observer has helped begin a process that will one day restrain these practices.