The 2017 Retraction Watch Year in Review (hint: Our database is nearly done)

One journal broke a retractions record by pulling more than 100 papers in one day for faked reviews, a Harvard graduate student obtained a restraining order against his boss after being forced to undergo a psychiatric exam, and a well-known food scientist at Cornell faced heavy criticism about his research. And that’s just some of … Continue reading The 2017 Retraction Watch Year in Review (hint: Our database is nearly done)

Another retraction to appear for Cornell food scientist Brian Wansink

The new year will bring a sixth retraction for food scientist Brian Wansink, whose work has been under fire for all of 2017. Although the notice has not yet been released, the journal Appetite plans to retract a 2003 paper about the different forces that motivate people to try new foods (referring, in this specific … Continue reading Another retraction to appear for Cornell food scientist Brian Wansink

Caught Our Notice: Oops — 10-fold error reverses heart warning for Ghanaians

Title: Ghanaians Might Be at Risk of Inadequate Dietary Intake of Potassium What Caught Our Attention: Potassium-rich diets are thought to be “heart-healthy,” and after examining the average dietary habits of Ghanaian adults, researchers determined the average potassium (K) intake to be well below global standards.  However, the authors’ calculations of potassium intake per capita … Continue reading Caught Our Notice: Oops — 10-fold error reverses heart warning for Ghanaians

Weekend reads: Weaponized plagiarism; bias against low-income country research; the uncited papers

The week at Retraction Watch featured commentary on yet another paper claiming a link between autism and vaccines, a welcome useful retraction notice, and a rewrite of a paper that influenced car seat guidelines. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Weekend reads: Peer review “ineffective and unworthy;” science a “profiteering enterprise;” Beall’s boss speaks

The week at Retraction Watch featured a praiseworthy retraction by a Nobel laureate, a finding of research misconduct in a much-watched case involving fish and microplastics, and death threats against a journalist reporting on a politician’s plagiarism. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Professor sues UC Davis over forced retirement following misconduct inquiry

Last year, a professor brought a suit against his former university after it forced him to retire. Now, he’s adding defamation to his list of allegations. In a lawsuit filed July 14, 2016, Ishwarlal “Kenny” Jialal, a cardiovascular researcher who worked at the University of California, Davis Medical Center from 2002 to 2016, alleges the … Continue reading Professor sues UC Davis over forced retirement following misconduct inquiry

Caught Our Notice: 1,376 words of overlap in paper by food researcher Brian Wansink

Title: Change Their Choice! Changing Behavior Using the CAN Approach and Activism Research What Caught Our Attention: Food researcher Brian Wansink has had a rough time lately. After researchers began scrutinizing his work, he has racked up five retractions and multiple corrections. (We’re counting one retracted paper twice, as Wansink first retracted and replaced it with a … Continue reading Caught Our Notice: 1,376 words of overlap in paper by food researcher Brian Wansink

“(Hundreds of hours of) work vindicated:” Critic of food researcher reacts to new retraction

Ever since Cornell food researcher Brian Wansink wrote a blog post one year ago praising a graduate student’s productivity, things have gone downhill for him. Although he initially lauded the student for submitting five papers within six months of arriving at the lab, the four papers about pizza have all since been modified in some … Continue reading “(Hundreds of hours of) work vindicated:” Critic of food researcher reacts to new retraction

Journal replaces anti-vaccine paper it retracted for missing conflicts, “number of errors”

A journal retracted a paper about how conflicts of interest might be influencing research into the link between vaccines and autism because — wait for it — the authors failed to disclose conflicts of interest. According to the retraction notice, the editors retracted the paper without the authors’ agreement, because the authors had a host … Continue reading Journal replaces anti-vaccine paper it retracted for missing conflicts, “number of errors”

Caught Our Notice: 4th retraction for peer reviewer who stole manuscript

Title: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diet and gut microbiota What Caught Our Attention: The paper was co-authored by Carmine Finelli, who in the past took responsibility for a dramatic transgression: Stealing material from an unpublished manuscript by one of its reviewers. After the paper that stole from the manuscript was retracted in 2016, Finelli earned a second retraction … Continue reading Caught Our Notice: 4th retraction for peer reviewer who stole manuscript