Weekend reads: ‘Papermill alarm’ software; questions about a study of prosthetics; what do publishers stand for?

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The week at Retraction Watch featured:

• Journal says ivermectin study met standard for ‘credible science’
• Former Iranian government official up to two retractions, five corrections
• A journal did nothing about plagiarism allegations for a year. Then the tweets (and an email from Retraction Watch) came.
• Fired postdoc faked recommendation letters from supervisor, OSU alleges
• UCLA walks back claim that application for $50 million grant included fake data

Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to 261. There are more than 35,000 retractions in our database — which powers retraction alerts in EndNote, LibKey, Papers, and Zotero. And have you seen our leaderboard of authors with the most retractions lately — or our list of top 10 most highly cited retracted papers?

Here’s what was happening elsewhere (some of these items may be paywalled, metered access, or require free registration to read):

• “‘Papermill alarm’ software flags potentially fake papers.”
• Did the authors of a study on a prosthetic arm in NEJM withhold a serious complication?
• “Publishers must ask themselves the question: what do they stand for? And market share is not the only answer to that question.”
• “The B side of science: the thousands of papers that are retracted every year and how that affects us.”
• “New JAMA editor says she will focus on communication, diversity, and health equity.”
• “At Temple, two scientists fight over a claim of stolen heart research and a start-up that’s selling for $53 million.”
• “Former Texas professor pleads guilty to making false statements on China ties.” But the main charges were dropped.
• “U.S. math professor gets probation, not prison, in China Initiative case.”
• “El Periódico has withdrawn an article by the writer Lucía Etxebarria accusing her of plagiarism.”
• “Oxford University scientist who said he was forced out of his job after he complained about professor plagiarising his work loses unfair dismissal claim.”
• “If peer review was highly sensitive to error or fraud, Retraction Watch would not exist.”
• “‘Le Point’ published an article on deputies Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière which turned out to be false. We removed it. Explanations and first results of our investigations.”
• “[T]he study lacks objective outcome measures.” Scientific Reports paper on homeopathy for anxiety is retracted.
• “Tearing down the academic research paywall could come with a price.”
• “A descriptive study found low prevalence of presumed predatory publications in a subset of Cochrane reviews.”
• “Women still publish less than men in South Africa.”
• “A recent study made some alarming findings on the extent of plagiarism and other forms of unethical academic behaviour at Moroccan tertiary institutions, but also proposes measures to combat this scourge.”
• “Two scientists said the American Physical Society had erred in evaluating their plan to use drones to shoot down North Korean long-range missiles.”
• “Promoting trust in research and researchers.”
• A dean and popular radio host in Malta has been cleared of plagiarism.
• “Reducing the Inadvertent Spread of Retracted Science.”
• “Ann Kao of the TPP rejects accusations of thesis plagiarism.”
• “Central University of Kashmir (CUK) Vice Chancellor, Prof  Farooq Ahmad Shah, Tuesday said several individuals have resorted to unfair means in research.”
• “Expert who has downplayed link between concussion and traumatic brain injury is accused of 10 more cases of plagiarism.”
• “What is better for your career than a publication? A preprint.”

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