ad hominem attacks

I pitched a column to the journal Science titled, "How I Became a Junk Science Debunker." It was initially accepted and went through two months (and nine rounds) of editing. At the last moment, however, the column was spiked by senior editor Tim Appenzeller (pictured). Why? Because I'm a corporate shill, of course.
What's more effective when it comes to debunking science? Turns out that ad hominem attacks work as well as disproving the "facts" of a given argument.