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Notes -
I'm having trouble understanding the idea that "the onus is on the person making the positive claim to provide sufficient evidence to prove their case". It looks obvious why this is a good idea, but it seems completely open to the rhetorical trick of putting the onus on the other party to prove you wrong even if your own case is unproven (perhaps because the question is a hard one and whoever is tasked with proving anything will have a hard time).
What got me thinking about this was an internet argument on immigration and crime. Half a century ago the status quo was restricted immigration and the onus would be on the person advocating for more to prove that it was a good thing, nowadays the status quo is liberal immigration and the onus is on the person advocating restrictions to prove that it is a bad thing. No scientifically relevant change has taken place, only a change in government policy, but one side can now quote a basic principle of science to bolster their case in an argument even if they know nothing more than the other party.
The due diligence question is obviously is this actually a fundamental aspect of science as stated or is it misrepresenting a more nuanced principle?
No, it is not a fundamental aspect of science. The idea of the null hypothesis is derived from statistical hypothesis testing, which wasn't even popularized until the mid 20th century. The idea that it is "fundamental to science" is clearly refuted by the history of science, which proceeded rapidly without it.
There is a practical matter, which is that a scientific community does not have the capacity to take every claim that passes through seriously. Thus, there is an initial burden of evidence to show your claim should be considered seriously. But is no different than in the court system that the initial burden is on the person filing the lawsuit. While reasonable, it is not a fundamental law of the universe. Above all, it does not constitute "evidence."
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