We present a synthesis of the interdisciplinary conference on ‘Scientific truth and social issues’, which dealt with current debates about the relationships between academic research and social needs. The conference’s aim was to discuss the potential negative effects of the current organization of sciences on the diffusion of scientific truths and to reflect on forms of organization best able to share scientific proofs with a broad audience including non-academic citizens, and taking into account social issues and their positive impacts on research projects. One of the difficulties identified was that criteria used to validate scientific knowledge are often variable inside scientific communities and over time. In contemporary sciences, most scientific evidences are not produced or even fully understood by one individual only but result from collective work. Production of knowledge and production of ignorance occur both in the scientific arena. To address these problems, developing interdisciplinary expert groups, participatory sciences, and collective scientific synthesis are some of the avenues discussed during this event.