ABSTRACT
Claims about scientific findings are not captured by any one specific development occurring in one place or at one time, but rather involve a process that unfolds over many years and includes many people and occasions. Those interested in studying the process of scientific discovery either must be participant observers of these processes at the time or rely on the ex post facto reports of the participants themselves to reconstruct the unfolding of discovery and claim-making. Reconstructing the claims made about the reliability of DSM-III faces these same limitations. If the claims are rejected because of methodological or statistical errors or oversights, the reputations of the researchers may be tarnished. The standard, widely accepted mechanism for making scientific claims is to publish an article in a scientific or professional journal. The claims about the reliability of DSM-III became an accepted formulation.
