Empirical research in what are commonly called peer-reviewed academic journals is often used as the basis for public policy decisions, in part because people think that peer-review involves checking the accuracy of the research. That might have been the case in the distant past, but times have long since changed. Academic journals rarely, if ever, check data and calculations for accuracy during the review process, nor do they claim to. Journal editors only claim that in selecting a paper for publication they think it merits examination by the research community.
