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Fouad et al. Metab Target Organ Damage 2024;4:20 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/mtod.2024.26 Page 5 of 7

dynamics that occurred with Helicobacter pylori in the past? Therefore, democratizing science and avoiding
the concentration of power in the hands of a small group, regardless of their contribution to the field, is the
way to protect the advancement of science, exactly as the principles of democracy vs dictatorship in politics.
Highlighting this issue, Professor Angeli, the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Hepatology, published an
editorial accompanying a letter where various investigators called for more flexible editorial conducts,
[24]
facilitating comparative studies rather than enforcing the adoption of the novel metabolic
dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) nomenclature . Consensus is nothing more than
[25]
the convergence of the majority of academics' perspectives, and whether being universal or not, evidence is
the cornerstone of the interaction between science and society since it prevents misunderstandings and false
information.

However, looking back at the past serves as a timely reminder to everybody in the profession that, far too
frequently, scientific advancement needs to be battled for, and that the scientific establishment is also biased
toward conservatism. From this angle, it was very good news that the battleground has now been extended
to the entire academic community. It requires a great deal of “linguistification” effort to make “evidence”
[21]
appear to be “facts that speak for themselves”, as was recently stated .

CONCLUSION
Within the sphere of argumentation, it is customary to stress the concept of “democratization of science”,
which implies broad general academic participation in the decision-making process in the face of
controversial issues. Without this, there would naturally be an imbalance in any arrangement to integrate
societies’ actors meaningfully into the decision-making process, no matter who coordinated it. The danger
is that what seemingly is declared as a broad consensus on the nature of science is actually a forced
consensus.

Such arguments seek to increase participation and arguments for the democratization of planning, usually
connected with the broader issue of legitimacy in a democratic environment. If the history of science
teaches anything, it is humility, cautioning against the concentration of authority in the hands of a small
number of people, as by default, such concentration would lead to biases, especially in today’s world, which
is rife with various conflicts of interest. Nevertheless, our grandchildren will surely blame us if they find that
we understood the reality of the misuse of power and failed to do anything about it. It is time to restore the
balance and take control of our field: together, we can do it!

DECLARATIONS
Authors’ contributions
Conceptualization, Writing-original draft preparation: Fouad Y, Alboraie M
Writing-review and editing: Fouad Y, Gomaa A, Zheng MH, Alboraie M
Revised and approved the published version of the manuscript: Lonardo A, Fouad Y, Gomaa A, Zheng
MH, Alboraie M

Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.