The Veterinary Journal has retracted a 2014 paper that found that sheep eat more when their food is supplemented with urea (yes, the same compound found in urine).
The notice was published after a “complaint which raised serious concerns.”
Here’s more from the notice:
This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief and Author following the receipt of a complaint which raised serious concerns about the validity of data included in the article and the attribution of authorship.
The paper, ”Benefits of different urea supplementation methods on the production performances of Merino sheep,” was conducted by researchers at the Australian Department of Agriculture and Food, the Catholic Agricultural College Bindoon along with the Wellard Group, a major livestock export company, and the Macquarie Group, an investment banking and financial services group. It has been cited once, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.
Andrew Higgins, the editor-in-chief, said that questions were raised by some of the authors, and when staff at the journal contacted the principal author, he asked them to withdraw the article “in the best interest of The Veterinary Journal.”
I cannot add much more to the comment on the statement in ScienceDirect that the “article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief and Author following the receipt of a complaint which raised serious concerns about the validity of data included in the article and the attribution of authorship.” Questions were raised by co-authors about the authorship and some of the data and when asked to comment the principal author promptly asked if he could withdraw the article “in the best interest of The Veterinary Journal”. I imagine you are already in touch with the author for any further comment he may wish to make.
The Department of Agriculture and Food email address for the first author, Joshua Sweeny, is no longer active.
Sweeny won the 2013 Australian Animal Welfare Strategy Award from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences for his work with the national pork industry — in particular, trying to optimize vitamin D intake to reduce lameness among growing animals.
We’ve reached out to a LinkedIn profile that we believe is associated with Sweeny. We’ll update with any reply.
With reporting by Adam Marcus
Hat tip: Rolf Degen
Like Retraction Watch? Consider supporting our growth. You can also follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, add us to your RSS reader, and sign up on our homepage for an email every time there’s a new post. Click here to review our Comments Policy.
Is this baaaa-d science?
It’s too bad (not going to do it) about the study, but what an interesting idea! I’ll sheepishly ask… how in the world did anyone first figure out that urea could supplement the protein content in the diet of sheep? And does anyone calf any idea if these animals sheep out urea on their own?
Our goats turn up their noses at a feed bucket that has been tainted with poop pellets or urine. On the other hand, they sometimes crave salts, and they will lick human sweat in search of salts (I think that’s why). It tells us it is time to put out more mineral salts and baking soda. I don’t have experience with sheep, but it is possible that the sheep perceive the processed urea additive to be something else that they like. Sheep are very much “creatures of habit”–dumb as a stump, says my wife, who has worked with them.