A new way to support Retraction Watch this Giving Tuesday

Dear Retraction Watch reader:

Earlier this week, The Retraction Watch Database surpassed 45,000 retractions. 

45,000.

That’s three times as many as you’ll find in other data sources. And in a recognition of the value of the Database, earlier this year Crossref acquired it – and made its contents freely available. The fact that the acquisition included five years of funding to cover the continued operation of the Database was critical to our sustainability. We were, in a word, overjoyed by the deal.

But the journalism side of Retraction Watch – the part that digs deep into stories about retraction and related issues, files public records requests, and occasionally faces legal threats – still needs regular sources of funding. At the moment, the salaries of our two reporter-editors – Ellie Kincaid and Fred Joelving – are funded by a combination of a generous two-year grant from the WoodNext Foundation, partnership with news outlets, and individual donations from readers like you.

In nonprofit parlance, we’ve diversified,  but we always face the risk that one or more of those streams may dry up. We have a few ways you can help.

This year, we’re pleased to offer a new way to support our work. As readers know, we offer two free newsletters: the Retraction Watch Daily five days per week, and Weekend Reads on Saturdays, full of our own items and material from elsewhere we think you’ll find of interest. Some of you have said that’s too many emails, that you’d like a weekly digest instead.

We’re sympathetic – but as I handle the newsletters as a volunteer, adding another newsletter option is very challenging. The RW Daily is an important way for us to reach all of you – yes, including for fundraising – and to populate our social media feeds, which is where even more people follow or work. It’s worth the effort.

Being able to provide a service to readers while working toward our sustainability is what gets me up early in the morning. So we’ve added a subscription-only newsletter, The Retraction Watch Weekly. The cost is modest: $5 a month, $50 a year, or more if you’re inclined to be a founding subscriber.

To be completely transparent, there are really just two advantages to The Retraction Watch Weekly: Only one email from us per week, instead of six, and some minimal thoughts on why a particular item we include is noteworthy. We’ll link to all of our posts for the week, and to a selection of items that are also included in the RW Daily and Weekend Reads.

In other words, you can get a lot of this at Retraction Watch or our existing newsletters. which will always be free. But your tax-deductible subscription will help us continue to do our work. (If you’ve made at least $50 in contributions in the last 12 months, contact us to be added to The Retraction Watch Weekly list for free. We’ll contact everyone who has in order to make this offer, but that may take us a bit of time!)

If you’re just as happy as can be with the RW Daily and our other free offerings, we can still use your support. This Giving Tuesday, please consider a tax-deductible donation to support the Center For Scientific Integrity, our parent non-profit organization. You can make a one-time tax-deductible contribution by PayPal or by Square, or a monthly tax-deductible donation by Paypal. Or if you prefer to send a check, please make it out to The Center For Scientific Integrity and mail it to 121 W. 36th St., Suite 209, New York, NY 10018. Should you be in a position to donate securities, please contact me at [email protected] for instructions.

Thank you in advance, and thank you for your ongoing support.

Best,

Ivan Oransky
Co-Founder