a sentence I can't understand

[HaraKiriBlade]

[The] research leads me to worry about the possibility of false allegations. It is not a tribute to one's scientific integrity to walk down the middle of the road if the data are more to one side. - Stehpen Ceci (1993)

'to walk down the middle of the road', to me, sounds like a idiom of some sort. The problem is, I don't know what it means. Can anyone help me?

[Ouisch]

"Middle of the road" usually describes someone who is basically neutral. They don't lean towards the left or right when it comes to politics. They prefer easy listening music over rap or heavy metal. They don't want to be described as either radical or conservative - they fall somewhere in between the two.

[MikeNewYork]

'to walk down the middle of the road', to me, sounds like a idiom of some sort. The problem is, I don't know what it means. Can anyone help me?

This is a metaphor, based on walking in the center of the road.

In this case, it means not having an opinion even though the data should have led to one.