Ethics and the official reports about the destruction of the World Trade Center Twin Towers (WTC1 and WTC2) on 9/11: A case study

The final official reports on the destruction of the World Trade Center Twin Towers (WTC1/2) were published in September, 2005 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) [1]. Since then, serious questions have been raised by over 2100 qualified architects, engineers and scientists about how NIST selected the forensic evidence to be included and about the processes used to reach its conclusions [2]. This is troubling for such important reports. The public has come to expect that analyses would depend on peer review to verify the soundness of a scientific work and ensure that the conclusions are the result of a consistent, transparent and ethical process. This is especially important in reporting on an event with such major consequences as that of September 11, 2001.