Caught Our Notice: Make love, not fake reviews — semen papers retracted

Titles: 

1) Study of enzyme activities and protein content of beluga (Huso huso) semen before and after cryopreservation

2) Determination of some blood and seminal plasma ions in the beluga, Huso huso (Linnaeus, 1758)

3) Effects of multiple collections on spermatozoa quality of Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus: Motility, density and seminal plasma composition

What Caught Our Attention: We won’t lie — any retractions of papers about fish semen (OK, any kind of semen) will make us stop and look. In this case, the journal retracted three papers submitted by the same researcher over concerns of fake review. In the end, the journal was concerned the papers were okayed by reviewers who weren’t “suitably qualified” to review the papers about the content and quality of semen from different fish species. (In fairness, we imagine the pool of qualified reviewers is relatively small.)

Journal: Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition

Authors: 1)  Mohammad Sadegh Aramli   2) Mohammad Sadegh Aramli, E Habibi, S Aramli, H A Nouri     3) Mohammad Sadegh Aramli, M R Kalbassi, M R Gharibi

Affiliations: 1) Islamic Azad University, Iran;   2) Islamic Azad University, Iran; Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, Iran; Ardebil University of Medical Sciences, Iran; Rajaee Sturgeon Hatchery Center, Iran;  3) Islamic Azad University, Iran; Tarbiat Modares University, Iran;

The Notice:

The below articles published online on Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) have been retracted by agreement between the submitting author, Mohammad Sadegh Aramli (2015, 2015a, 2015b), the Editor‐in‐Chief, Michel Goldberg, and Blackwell Verlag GmbH. After a thorough investigation, there is strong evidence to indicate that the peer review of these papers was compromised. The identities of the reviewers were unable to be verified, and it is believed that these papers were accepted based on recommendations from reviewers not suitably qualified.

REFERENCE

Aramli, M. S. (2015). Study of enzyme activities and protein content of beluga (Huso huso) semen before and after cryopreservation. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 99, 13–16. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/jpn.12199/abstract

Aramli, M. S., Habibi, E., Aramli, S., & Nouri, H. A. (2015b). Determination of some blood and seminal plasma ions in the beluga, Huso huso (Linnaeus, 1758). Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 99, 17–20. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/jpn.12225/abstract

Aramli, M. S., Kalbassi, M. R., & Gharibi, M. R. (2015a). Effects of multiple collections on spermatozoa quality of Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus: Motility, density and seminal plasma composition. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 99, 66–72. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/jpn.12212/abstract

Dates of Articles: 1) April 2014 2) July 2014  3) June 2014

Times Cited, according to Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science:   Zero for all three papers

Dates of Notices: March 28, 2018

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