> PNAS... kind of an odd little club, that journal.
Ironically, you're kind of illustrating the point made in the text you quote. You expect things to be written in a style and jargon familiar to you. That was written in a style and jargon from a different specialty, thus it's unfamiliar. Often these seemingly-odd phrasings are the result of authors trying to be very precise about what they are or are not claiming - especially they are not making the more general, ambiguous, and seemingly obvious claim. They use terms that have very specific meanings in their own field for that purpose. But instead of considering that, you just cast aspersions on the entire organization or specialty. Congratulations, you've done yeoman's work for the Anti Science Brigade.
The National Academy of Sciences is a rather odd club (notably Feynman refused membership and there's a general suspicion they spend most of their time deciding who else to elect to the membership). That's not 'anti-science', although it might be 'anti-august-institution'. In particular don't members get to skip the normal peer review process with their publications?
See:
Dear Prof. Handler:
My request for resignation from the National Academy of Sciences is based entirely on personal psychological quirks. It represents in no way any implied or explicit criticism of the Academy, other than those characteristics that flow from the fact that most of the membership consider their installation as a significant honor.
Sincerely yours,
Richard P. Feynman
Ironically, you're kind of illustrating the point made in the text you quote. You expect things to be written in a style and jargon familiar to you. That was written in a style and jargon from a different specialty, thus it's unfamiliar. Often these seemingly-odd phrasings are the result of authors trying to be very precise about what they are or are not claiming - especially they are not making the more general, ambiguous, and seemingly obvious claim. They use terms that have very specific meanings in their own field for that purpose. But instead of considering that, you just cast aspersions on the entire organization or specialty. Congratulations, you've done yeoman's work for the Anti Science Brigade.