Weekend reads: ‘Who Cares About Publication Integrity?’; revealing a Galileo forgery; repeat predatory journal authors

Our co-founder Ivan Oransky turns 50 today, and we know what he’d really like for his birthday: Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: A tale of (3)2 retraction notices: On publishers, paper mill products, and the sleuths that find them White … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Who Cares About Publication Integrity?’; revealing a Galileo forgery; repeat predatory journal authors

Happy 12th birthday, Retraction Watch: And what a year it was

Every year in the days leading up to August 3 – our birthday – we find some time to review where we’ve been and where we’re going. We often start with the very first post we published on August 3, 2010.  That post begins with a mention of Anil Potti – remember him? – and … Continue reading Happy 12th birthday, Retraction Watch: And what a year it was

Weekend reads: Concussion researcher faces more scrutiny; ‘Mendel the fraud?’; seeking redemption after misconduct finding

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: The 21-year-old apology – and retraction from JAMA Harvard eye researchers have eight papers retracted for lack of ethical approval Einstein duo faked data in 16 federal grant applications: ORI So what happened with … Continue reading Weekend reads: Concussion researcher faces more scrutiny; ‘Mendel the fraud?’; seeking redemption after misconduct finding

Readers puzzle over marketing journal’s failures to retract

A marketing journal is taking heat on social media for issuing an expression of concern over a 2019 paper that many readers believe should have been retracted — and correcting another instead of retracting it. The article now subject to an expression of concern, “Role of Ambient Temperature in Influencing Willingness to Pay in Auctions … Continue reading Readers puzzle over marketing journal’s failures to retract

The peer reviewers and editor wanted to publish my paper. The legal team rejected it.

Move over, Reviewer 2: The legal reviewer wants your job.  Last month, I was relieved when the journal Research Ethics published my article, “The Use of Confidentiality and Anonymity Protections as a Cover for Fraudulent Fieldwork Data.” One unexpected hurdle had almost thwarted publication. The problem wasn’t with the proverbial hard-to-please peer reviewer called Reviewer … Continue reading The peer reviewers and editor wanted to publish my paper. The legal team rejected it.

Journal flags a dozen papers as likely paper mill products a year after sleuths identified them

A journal has issued a dozen expressions of concern over articles that a group of data sleuths had flagged last year on PubPeer as showing signs of having been cranked out by a paper mill.  The 12 articles were published between 2017 and 2019 in the International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology and were written … Continue reading Journal flags a dozen papers as likely paper mill products a year after sleuths identified them

Psychology journal retracts two articles for being “unethical, scientifically flawed, and based on racist ideas and agenda”

A psychology journal has retracted a pair of decades-old articles by a now-deceased psychologist with noxious views about race and intelligence after the editors concluded that his work was “unethical, scientifically flawed, and based on racist ideas and agenda.” The author, J. Philippe Rushton, was affiliated with the University of Western Ontario, where he was … Continue reading Psychology journal retracts two articles for being “unethical, scientifically flawed, and based on racist ideas and agenda”

Author says ‘misguided efforts for the ideal western blot led to the withdrawal of these studies’

The Journal of Biological Chemistry has retracted two papers by a group from the University of Toronto over what the leader of the research says were “misguided efforts” by a co-author to make the perfect Western blot.  The retractions are among a batch of seven recent removals by the journal for image issues, some of … Continue reading Author says ‘misguided efforts for the ideal western blot led to the withdrawal of these studies’

I agree with your conclusions completely, and your paper is still terrible.

Yesterday, dozens of scientists petitioned the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences to “retract a paper on the effectiveness of masks, saying the study has ‘egregious errors’ and contains numerous ‘verifiably false’ statements,” as The New York Times reported. One of those scientists was James Heathers, whose name will likely be familiar to Retraction Watch … Continue reading I agree with your conclusions completely, and your paper is still terrible.

Group withdraws COVID-19 scoring tool based on Surgisphere data following NEJM, Lancet retractions

On the heels of retractions of papers based on data that has fallen under intense scrutiny, an emergency medicine group in Africa is withdrawing a tool that they built using data from the same company. Lee Wallis, one of the editors in chief of the African Journal of Emergency Medicine, described the tool, built in … Continue reading Group withdraws COVID-19 scoring tool based on Surgisphere data following NEJM, Lancet retractions