Search Results for: rigged peer review

Elsevier journal issues 73 expressions of concern for manipulated peer review

An Elsevier journal has expressed concern over 73 papers with evidence of manipulated peer-review and rigged citations.   Last July, we reported that Masoud Afrand, a former member of the editorial board of Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements, had been linked to paper mill activity. At the time, Alexander Cheng, the journal’s editor in chief said … Continue reading Elsevier journal issues 73 expressions of concern for manipulated peer review

Journal that published paper linking 5G to COVID-19 blames “substantial manipulation of the peer review”

The journal that allowed a bizarre article linking Covid-19 to 5G cell phone waves to “slip through the net” now blames rigged peer review for the fishy paper.  The article, which earned raspberries from the likes of Elisabeth Bik (who called it potentially the “worst” paper of the year) and others, was retracted shortly after … Continue reading Journal that published paper linking 5G to COVID-19 blames “substantial manipulation of the peer review”

Journal retracted 46 articles in one fell swoop for faked peer review

In Retraction Watch world, it’s like finding long-buried and forgotten treasure. A now-defunct journal retracted nearly four dozen papers in a single sweep, citing questions about the integrity of the peer review process for the articles.  The Open Automation and Control Systems Journal, formerly published by Bentham, released a list of 46 articles, which it … Continue reading Journal retracted 46 articles in one fell swoop for faked peer review

A building consultant rigs peer review

The construction industry in New York City is notorious for rigged bids, but rigged peer review?  A Queens, NY, building consultant has lost four papers for forging — or having had forged — the peer reviews of his manuscripts. (For background on how this works, read this.) Faruque Hossain’s articles appeared in a variety of … Continue reading A building consultant rigs peer review

Researcher denies faking reviews for 5 newly retracted papers

Journals have retracted five papers by a materials researcher based in Poland after concluding the peer-review process had been faked.  According to the retraction notices — which all appear in Elsevier journals and contain the same text — the papers were accepted due to “positive advice of at least one faked reviewer report,” which were submitted … Continue reading Researcher denies faking reviews for 5 newly retracted papers

Medical journal retracts study over fake review, authorship concerns

A journal has retracted a 2015 study about lung cancer after learning the peer-review process had been compromised. The paper was published in March, 2015 — the same month publisher BioMed Central (BMC) pulled 43 papers for fake reviews. According to the retraction notice in the European Journal of Medical Research, the authors’ institution in China … Continue reading Medical journal retracts study over fake review, authorship concerns

Peer review manipulation fells another study

A spectroscopy journal has retracted a 2016 study after concluding that its editors had been misled by a fake review. According to the retraction notice, the journal — Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy — accepted the paper due to positive feedback from someone assuming the identity of an expert reviewer, using an … Continue reading Peer review manipulation fells another study

Author loses five papers, most for “compromised” peer review

PLOS ONE has retracted three papers after the first author admitted to submitting the manuscripts without co-authors’ consent, and an investigation suggested that two out of the three papers had received faked reviews. Last August, the same author — Lishan Wang of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University — lost two more papers (one in Tumor Biology and … Continue reading Author loses five papers, most for “compromised” peer review

Author, among others, loses four papers for “compromised” peer review

Journals have retracted four papers from an author after uncovering evidence the peer review process had been compromised. Three papers have all common authors.  In one notice, issued last month, Annals of Human Genetics said it had reason to believe the paper had been reviewed by unqualified reviewers. Last year, another journal, Molecular Biology Reports, pulled two papers by … Continue reading Author, among others, loses four papers for “compromised” peer review

Engineering journal pulls two papers for “compromised” peer review

An engineering journal has retracted two papers for faked or rigged peer review, but authors of one of the papers are objecting to the retraction.  The first author of that paper told us he and his co-authors “absolutely disagree” with the retraction, and are prepared to use “legal means” to safeguard their “rights and interests.” He … Continue reading Engineering journal pulls two papers for “compromised” peer review