Neo-colonial science

The use of helicopter research has also led to a stigma of research within minority groups; some going so far as to deny research within their communities. Such safari studies lead to long-term negative effects for the scientific community and researchers, as distrust develops within peripheral communities. Donor robbery Funds for research in developing countries are often provided by bilateral and international academic and research programmes for sustainable development. Through 'donor robbery' a large proportion of such international funds may end up in the wealthier countries via consultancy fees, laboratory costs in rich universities, overhead or purchase of expensive equipment, hiring expatriates and running "enclave" research institutes, depending on international conglomerates. Use of open data The current tendency of freely availing research datasets may lead to exploitation of, and rapid publication of results based on data pertaining to developing countries by rich and well-equipped research institutes, without any further involvement and/or benefit to local communities; similarly to the historical open access to tropical forests that has led to the disappropriation ("Global Pillage") of plant genetic resources from developing countries. Professional discourse In certain fields of research, such as global public health, both the journals and professionals creating the field have defined much of their work under colonial structures and assumptions. ==Mitigation==

Some journals and publishers are implementing policies that should mitigate the impact of parachute science. One of the conditions for publication set by the journal Global Health Action is that, "Articles reporting research involving primary data collection will normally include researchers and institutions from the countries concerned as authors, and include in-country ethical approval." Similarly The Lancet Global Health placed restriction encouraged submissions to review their practices for including local participants. Similarly in 2021, PLOS announced a policy that required changes in reporting for researchers working in other countries. A number of research communities are putting protocols in place for indigenous health information. In the US, the Cherokee Nation established a specific Institutional Review Board, aiming at ensuring the protection of the rights and welfare of tribal members involved in research projects. The Cherokee Nation IRB does not allow helicopter research. An Ethiopian soil scientist, Mitiku Haile, suggests that such "free riding" should be "condemned by all partners and, if found, should be brought to the attention of the scientific community and the international and national funding agencies". Also in Africa, since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, travel restrictions on international scholars tend to local scientists stepping up to lead research. == Examples by field ==

Examples of neo-colonial approaches to science include: • In the medical world: "A popular term for a clinical or epidemiologic research project conducted by foreign scientists who use local contacts to gain access to a population group and obtain samples" (See also: Ubirajara jubatus.) • When scientists from a central, dominant ethnic or sociological group conduct research in areas where minority groups are living (often peripheral areas), there is also a risk for helicopter research, though it may not appear directly from the academic affiliation of the researchers. For instance, within the United States, it has been used primarily in the study of Native Americans. This in turn both prevents local researchers from doing groundbreaking work, because they don't have the funding for experimental activities and reduces investment in local researchers ideas and in topics important to the Global South, such as climate change adaptation. Soil science Soil scientists have qualified helicopter research as a perpetuation of "colonial" science. Typically researchers from rich countries would come to establish soil profile pits or collect soil and peat samples, which is often more easily done in poor countries given the availability of cheap labour and goodwill of villagers to dig a pit on their land against small payment. The profile will be described and samples taken with the help of local people, possibly also university staff. In case of helicopter research, the outcomes are then published such as discovery in tropical peatlands, sometimes in high-level journals without the involvement of local colleagues. "Overall, helicopter research tends to produce academic papers that further the career of scientists from developed countries, but provide little practical outcomes for nations where the studies are conducted, nor develop the careers of their local scientists." == Examples by region ==

Europe The 2015 description of Tetrapodophis was performed by three European scientists. When the Brazilian newspaper Estadão – Brazil being the country where the fossil hails from – questioned lead researcher David M. Martill, he replied "It should be fossils for all. No countries existed when the animals were fossilized. [..] what difference would it make [partnering with Brazilian scientists]? I mean, do you want me also to have a black person on the team for ethnicity reasons, and a cripple and a woman, and maybe a homosexual too, just for a bit of all round balance? [..] Now I don't work in Brazil. But I still work on Brazilian fossils. There are hundreds of them in museums all over Europe, America and in Japan." Central Africa A 2009 study found that Europeans participated in 77% of regionally co-authored papers in Central African countries. Even though local authors are credited with the work, they aren't always given participatory roles in the final production of the research itself—instead playing roles in fieldwork. A month later this publication was criticised by Indonesian scientists. Their article in Science questioned the ethics of scientists from the United States and Denmark who took DNA samples of the Bajau people and analyzed them, without much involvement of Bajau or other Indonesian people. ==See also==