Paper used to support claims that ivermectin reduces COVID-19 hospitalizations is withdrawn by preprint server

The overseers of the preprint server SocArXiv have withdrawn a paper which claims that treating Covid patients with ivermectin dramatically reduces their odds of hospitalization, calling the work “misleading” and “part of an unethical program by the government of Mexico City to dispense hundreds of thousands of doses of an inappropriate medication to people who … Continue reading Paper used to support claims that ivermectin reduces COVID-19 hospitalizations is withdrawn by preprint server

Caught Our Notice: Dear peer reviewer, please read the methods section. Sincerely, everyone

Title: Plasma contributes to the antimicrobial activity of whole blood against Mycobacterium tuberculosis What Caught Our Attention: A big peer review (and perhaps academic mentorship) fail.  These researchers used the wrong anticoagulant for their blood samples, leading them to believe that certain blood components were fighting microbes. The authors counted the number of colonies to show … Continue reading Caught Our Notice: Dear peer reviewer, please read the methods section. Sincerely, everyone

Official notice published for chem paper slated for retraction in 2011

After five years, Elsevier has finally issued a notice of retraction for a paper it announced it was pulling for fraud in 2011. All of the papers were produced by a research group in Brazil; all were retracted after the publisher conducted an investigation, concluding that the NMR results had been manipulated. At the time, … Continue reading Official notice published for chem paper slated for retraction in 2011

Researcher in Brazil earns 12th retraction for recycling text and figures

A scientist in Brazil has gained his twelfth retraction for reusing text and figures from previously published papers. In 2011, Elsevier announced that it would retract 11 papers by Claudio Airoldi, a researcher at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. Subsequently, he was suspended for 45 days, and his co-author on the 11 … Continue reading Researcher in Brazil earns 12th retraction for recycling text and figures

Weekend reads: STAP saga over once and for all?; plagiarizing prof gets tenure

The week at Retraction Watch featured the appeal of a modern-day retraction, and a look at whether a retraction by a Nobel Prize winner should be retracted 50 years later. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Brazilian researcher on 11 retracted papers loses academic post

Denis de Jesus Lima Guerra, a co-author on 11 chemistry papers that were retracted in 2011 for suspicions of fraud, has lost his position at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT). Bernardo Esteves, who was first to report the news, writes (courtesy Google Translate) that the dismissal was

Hazardous materials: Elsevier retracts 11 chemistry papers from Brazilian group, citing fraud

The publisher Elsevier has announced that it is retracting 11 papers from a team of Brazilian researchers over concerns that the scientists committed fraud in the studies. The notice is pegged to an October 2009 article in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science titled “Immobilization of 5-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole-thiol onto kanemite for thorium(IV) removal: Thermodynamics and … Continue reading Hazardous materials: Elsevier retracts 11 chemistry papers from Brazilian group, citing fraud