Retraction Watch Staff

Weekend reads: MAHA report cites nonexistent studies; RFK Jr. threatens publishing access; can ‘zombie papers’ be killed?

The week at Retraction Watch featured:

‘More of the same’: Journals, trade website refuse to correct critiques of book on Alzheimer’s fraud
Meet David Robert Grimes and Mariana Ribeiro, the first two Retraction Watch Sleuths in Residence
IQ study retracted in fallout from decades-old misconduct report. See our previous coverage
Paper on “wokeness” and mental health retracted for political reasons, authors say

Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up past 500. There are more than 59,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains more than 300 titles. And have you seen our leaderboard of authors with the most retractions lately — or our list of top 10 most highly cited retracted papers? What about The Retraction Watch Mass Resignations List — or our list of nearly 100 papers with evidence they were written by ChatGPT?

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

Meet the first two Retraction Watch Sleuths in Residence

We are thrilled to announce that David Robert Grimes and Mariana Ribeiro will join the Retraction Watch team as Sleuths in Residence starting June 1.

Earlier this year we announced the Sleuth in Residence Program, an opportunity for active sleuths to have a secure and paid position while working closely with our research team on specific projects, and with our journalism team to publish their findings. Our goal is to build capacity in this space to emphasize the value of compensating and protecting the critical work of sleuths.

We’re pleased to be able to bring on two Sleuths in Residence as part of this effort.

Weekend reads: French agency’s research director sanctioned; AI data woes at MIT; is disruptive science over?

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25?

The week at Retraction Watch featured:

Scopus indexed a journal with a fake editorial board and a sham archive. When we asked them about it, they removed it.
Can a better ID system for authors, reviewers and editors reduce fraud? STM thinks so.
Correction finally issued seven years after authors promise fix ‘as soon as possible.’
Researchers to pull duplicate submission after reviewer concerns and Retraction Watch inquiry.
Genentech authors flip PNAS study from corrected to retracted following Retraction Watch coverage.

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

Weekend reads: MIT rescinds support of AI paper; should AI write science papers, anyway?; another pub steps in for paused NIH journal

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25?

The week at Retraction Watch featured:

How do retractions impact researchers’ career paths and collaborations? A Q&A with the study’s authors
Clarivate to stop counting citations to retracted articles in journals’ impact factors
Dozens of Elsevier papers retracted over fake companies and suspicious authorship changes
Paper with duplicated images retracted four months after concerns were raised
Scopus indexed a journal with a fake editorial board and a sham archive. When we asked them about it, they removed it

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

Weekend reads: Majorana manipulation allegations; Norway’s most-published researcher committed misconduct; ‘second chance’ for convicted Harvard chemist

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25?

The week at Retraction Watch featured:

‘Now is not the time to fade’: Retraction Watch awarded Council of Science Editors’ highest honor
A ‘stupid mistake’: EPA researcher added their underage child as an author on manuscript
Journal collected $400,000 for papers that it later retracted
Web of Science delists bioengineering journal in wake of paper mill cleanup
Journal investigating placebo effect study following Retraction Watch inquiry

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

Weekend reads: Journal halts submissions, citing NIH cuts; rejected paper published by ‘mistake’; feds cancel grant amid misconduct allegations

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25?

The week at Retraction Watch featured:

University of Toronto should take action on flawed breast screening study, says longtime critic
Experiment using AI-generated posts on Reddit draws fire for ethics concerns
AI-Reddit study leader gets warning as ethics committee moves to ‘stricter review process’
Why has it taken more than a year to correct a COVID-19 paper?
A Ph.D. in paper mills?
Former cancer researcher who sued university for discrimination hits 35 retractions

Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up past 500. There are more than 58,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains more than 300 titles. And have you seen our leaderboard of authors with the most retractions lately — or our list of top 10 most highly cited retracted papers? What about The Retraction Watch Mass Resignations List — or our list of nearly 100 papers with evidence they were written by ChatGPT?

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

Weekend reads: Retractions as censorship; the carbon footprint when science doesn’t self-correct; NEJM vs. the feds

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25?

The week at Retraction Watch featured:

Suspended UK surgeon earns nine expressions of concern, one withdrawal
UC Davis research director loses three papers for image manipulation
Sodom comet paper to be retracted two years after editor’s note acknowledging concerns
‘Squared blunder’: Google engineer withdraws preprint after getting called out for using AI

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

Weekend reads: Journals get letters from feds; invasion of the ‘journal snatchers’; should universities release misconduct reports?

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25?

The week at Retraction Watch featured:

Chinese funding agency sanctions 26 researchers in latest misconduct report
Biochemist with previous image duplication retractions loses another paper
A new journal record: Sage title retracts 678 more papers, tally over 1,500
Medical societies call for BMJ to retract ‘misleading and irresponsible’ guideline

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

Weekend reads: Scientists won’t submit paper for deportation fears; watchdog: oversight lacking at EPA research group; ‘life after paper mills’

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25?

The week at Retraction Watch featured:

Math journal editors resign to launch open-access title ‘free from pressure or influence’
Indian university’s channel on publisher’s platform disappears
A ‘joke’: Paper with ‘completely irrelevant’ citations retracted
Replication probe finds ‘statistically improbable data’ tied to institute in Bangladesh

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

Weekend reads: How NIH is quietly stalling research; integrity concerns found at clinical trial org; experiments in paid peer review

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25?

The week at Retraction Watch featured:

Wiley journal retracts over 200 more papers
COVID-19 vaccine myocarditis paper raises questions about what earns post-publication peer review
Do men or women retract more? A study found the answer is…complicated
Misappropriation of undergraduate work leads to study retraction
Former Italian university head faces retractions and criminal investigations

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

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: