Search Results for: nature

We’re not “citation police:” No more errata for omitted citations, says economics journal

An economics journal has corrected a paper for the second time for failing to cite previous studies — and said in a separate note that it no longer plans to publish similar errata, with rare exceptions.  In September 2015, we reported on the first erratum for “Incentives for Creativity” — a paper that analyzed ways … Continue reading We’re not “citation police:” No more errata for omitted citations, says economics journal

Spam me once, shame on you. (Academic) spam me 3000 times…?

Every year, academics get thousands of spam emails inviting them to submit manuscripts or attend conferences — but don’t bother asking to “unsubscribe” for Christmas. Spoiler alert, for those of you planning to read the rest of this post: It doesn’t make much of a difference. That’s according to the conclusions of a study published … Continue reading Spam me once, shame on you. (Academic) spam me 3000 times…?

UCLA lab pulls two papers — one by author who admitted to misconduct

A lab at the University of California, Los Angeles has retracted two papers for duplicated images. These retractions — in the Journal of Immunology — represent the second and third retractions for the lab head; he lost another paper after one of his former students confessed to manipulating images. Although Eriko Suzuki admitted to her actions … Continue reading UCLA lab pulls two papers — one by author who admitted to misconduct

Journal reverses acceptance of study linking vaccines to autism

A journal posted an abstract online suggesting a link between vaccines and autism. After a firestorm of criticism, it removed the abstract, saying it was going to be re-reviewed. Now, the journal has decided to formally reject it. As we reported last month, Frontiers in Public Health removed the abstract after it sparked criticism on … Continue reading Journal reverses acceptance of study linking vaccines to autism

Researchers retract paper after they run out of breast milk

If you think something is amiss with your data, running an experiment again to figure out what’s going on is a good move. But it’s not always possible. A team of researchers in Seoul recently found themselves in a bind when they needed to check their work, but were out of a key substance: breast milk. The … Continue reading Researchers retract paper after they run out of breast milk

Retractions holding steady at more than 650 in FY2016

Drumroll please. The tally of retractions in MEDLINE — one of the world’s largest databases of scientific abstracts — for the last fiscal year has just been released, and the number is: 664. Earlier this year, we scratched our heads over the data from 2015, which showed retractions had risen dramatically, to 684. The figures for … Continue reading Retractions holding steady at more than 650 in FY2016

Former Stanford researcher up to 5 retractions for unreliable data

A psychology researcher formerly based at Stanford University has logged her fifth retraction due to unreliable results. According to the notice in the Journal of Memory and Language, Sandra Lozano takes full responsibility for the retraction. Apparently, the retraction has been in the works for eight years — and in that time, journals have retracted … Continue reading Former Stanford researcher up to 5 retractions for unreliable data

Surprise! Paper retracted after author tells journal it’s a “pile of dung”

This summer, Ottawa Citizen reporter Tom Spears was sitting by a lake on vacation when he opened a spam email from a publisher. Amused to see the sender was a journal focused on bioethics, he got an idea. I thought, what if I just throw something outrageous at them? The situation should sound familiar to readers who … Continue reading Surprise! Paper retracted after author tells journal it’s a “pile of dung”

Study linking vaccines to autism pulled following heavy criticism

A study linking vaccines to autism and other neurological problems has been removed by a Frontiers journal after receiving heavy criticism since it was accepted last week.  The abstract — published online in Frontiers in Public Health after being accepted November 21 — reported findings from anonymous online questionnaires completed by 415 mothers of home-schooled children 6-12 years … Continue reading Study linking vaccines to autism pulled following heavy criticism