Weekend reads: Retraction counts by country; ‘zombie facts;’ false allegations fell president

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up past 450. There are more than 50,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains more than 300 titles. … Continue reading Weekend reads: Retraction counts by country; ‘zombie facts;’ false allegations fell president

Sage slaps more than 100 papers from one journal with expressions of concern

The Sage journal American Surgeon has issued a mass expression of concern for 116 articles.  The expression of concern states the journal “was made aware” of “concerning author activity” on the articles. Sage is no stranger to mass editorial actions. In 2023, the publisher pulled large tranches of papers at least three times, and last … Continue reading Sage slaps more than 100 papers from one journal with expressions of concern

The 14 universities with publication metrics researchers say are too good to be true

More than a dozen universities have used “questionable authorship practices” to inflate their publication metrics, authors of a new study say. One university even saw an increase in published articles of nearly 1,500% in the last four years.  The study, published January 5 in Quantitative Science Studies, “intends to serve as a starting point for … Continue reading The 14 universities with publication metrics researchers say are too good to be true

Biotech company agrees to pay $4 million to settle data falsification allegations

A biotech company whose CEO faced allegations of manipulating data in papers used in NIH grant applications will pay a settlement of $4 million to resolve those allegations, the Department of Justice announced January 6.  The settlement is the latest installment in a series of allegations surrounding research by Leen Kawas, the former CEO of … Continue reading Biotech company agrees to pay $4 million to settle data falsification allegations

Journals investigating dozens of papers by leading Canadian urologists

A high-profile Canadian urologist received an editorial expression of concern for one of his papers this month, after anonymous comments on PubPeer flagged suspected data duplication in dozens of his articles.  By our count, sleuths have flagged 30 papers co-authored by Martin Gleave, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada and co-founder … Continue reading Journals investigating dozens of papers by leading Canadian urologists

Exclusive: Researcher who received settlement to leave University of Iowa won’t be starting new job

A cardiology researcher who left the University of Iowa with a six-figure settlement earlier this year won’t be starting the new job he’d lined up at the Providence VA Medical Center, Retraction Watch has learned.  Justyn Charon, a spokesperson for the Providence VA, previously told us the researcher, Kaikobad Irani, would begin his new position … Continue reading Exclusive: Researcher who received settlement to leave University of Iowa won’t be starting new job

19 months and counting: Former Hindawi journal still hasn’t marked paper

A journal formerly published by Hindawi has yet to publish any sort of notice on a paper sleuths reported for containing duplicated images 1.5 years ago.  According to Kevin Patrick, the sleuth who contacted the publisher in mid-2023, the episode “might be a useful case study” of the issues facing Wiley, which acquired Hindawi in … Continue reading 19 months and counting: Former Hindawi journal still hasn’t marked paper

Former Harvard researcher, now at Moderna, loses paper following postdoc’s report

PLOS Pathogens has retracted a paper by a former group at Harvard following a postdoc’s allegations the work contained manipulated data. The retracted paper, “Pseudomonas aeruginosa–induced nociceptor activation increases susceptibility to infection,” appeared in 2021 from the lab of Mihaela Gadjeva, an immunologist previously based at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in … Continue reading Former Harvard researcher, now at Moderna, loses paper following postdoc’s report

Crossref suspends company’s membership after Retraction Watch report

Crossref, a nonprofit focused on metadata of scholarly publications, has suspended the membership of a company linked to websites which copied the appearance of journals belonging to Elsevier and Springer Nature, among others from major publishers, Retraction Watch has learned.  The move follows Anna Abalkina’s reporting on Retraction Watch about the activities of Springer Global … Continue reading Crossref suspends company’s membership after Retraction Watch report

Weekend reads: Cassava’s Alzheimer’s drug fails; new journal hijacking scam; Hong Kong academic jailed

Giving Tuesday is coming up. Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up past 450. There are more than 50,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains more … Continue reading Weekend reads: Cassava’s Alzheimer’s drug fails; new journal hijacking scam; Hong Kong academic jailed