How can I find papers that are not sponsored by industry? Are there any databases or search filters for published peer-reviewed articles, particularly concerning environmental issues, that are neither affiliated with nor funded by corporate interests?
I am trying to find peer-reviewed articles on the history and impact of plastics pollution. Most articles I have found either have authors affiliated with petroleum/packaging/fast-moving consumer good companies, were commissioned by those companies, or received funding influenced by those companies.
I am not asking whether industry-sponsored papers are less accurate, as this has been asked before. I understand that high-quality independent research can emerge from (and be enabled by) corporate funds, and that every funding source has biases of some kind.
I would just like to know how to find articles whose authors and funding have no corporate ties.
Additionally, I understand that not all connections with industry are apparent. As an example, one article encouraging plastics packaging had no author affiliations but received funding from a major English research council. Although this council describes itself as independent, its directors' declarations of interest contain many corporate ties, including to petroleum giants. Since this is indirect, I would not expect it to qualify as &quot;industry-sponsored.&quot;
If you have access to Web of Science, there is an option to sort by funding agencies. Clicking the &quot;more options&quot; link also allows you to exclude funding agencies. It's not perfect since the last time I used it there were quite a lot of false positives &amp; negatives, but it's better than nothing.