These standards are developed by joint panels of academics, pharmaceutical-company representatives, and other experts.
To quieten down the howling, countries set up panels of academics to discuss the controversies.
It is a huge exercise that sees panels of academics reviewing each others' work and passing judgments as to its quality.
Panels of academics will still "peer review" research, but with two tiers of panels - 67 subject panels and 15 overarching panels - to ensure judgments are consistent throughout the whole exercise.
You don't need to be a Bragg fan to marvel at the way he coaxes panels of academics into distilling their learning down to 45 minutes, broadcast live.
Big changes are afoot in the way quality is judged after 2008, but this time panels of academics evaluating each others' work will still hold most sway, though the research money universities have and the numbers of PhDs they produce will be considered.
Each week the host, Melvyn Bragg — a BBC veteran, whose Life Peerage makes him Lord Bragg of Wigton — offers a panel of academic experts, with Oxford and Cambridge heavily represented.
The most recent downturn ended in June 2009, according to a panel of academic economists widely considered to the arbiter of the business cycle.
A panel of academic and government experts recommended in 1999 that in the event of a bioterrorist attack using anthrax, "Vaccination of some essential service personnel should be considered if vaccine becomes available".
The programme was designed as an RCT by the behavioural insights team, working with officials at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and an advisory panel of academic experts.
