Search Results for: sting

A bullshit excuse? My lab notebook “was blown into a manure pit”

A researcher who studies how to turn dairy cattle manure into natural gas falsified and fabricated data in a journal article and failed to declare a commercial conflict of interest, a Washington State University investigation has found. The study “Evaluation of Co-Digestion at a Commercial Dairy Anaerobic Digester” was published in 2011 in the journal … Continue reading A bullshit excuse? My lab notebook “was blown into a manure pit”

Why retraction shouldn’t always be the end of the story

When researchers raised concerns about a 2009 Science paper regarding a new way to screen for enzymatic activity, the lead author’s institution launched an investigation. The paper was ultimately retracted in 2010, citing “errors and omissions.” It would seem from this example that the publishing process worked, and science’s ability to self-correct cleaned up the record. … Continue reading Why retraction shouldn’t always be the end of the story

Voinnet’s notice count grows, as he notches his 18th correction

Olivier Voinnet, a high-profile plant scientist at ETH Zurich, has earned a mega-correction. It wrapped up a rough year for the biologist, which included his seventh retraction, and a CNRS investigation that found evidence of misconduct. This latest correction, to a paper on the mechanisms behind RNA silencing in Arabidopsis, was published in RNA. The 2007 paper has been cited … Continue reading Voinnet’s notice count grows, as he notches his 18th correction

Weekend reads: Why authors keep citing retracted studies; patients over papers; final ruling in Hwang case

Here’s our first post of 2016. The week at Retraction Watch featured a retraction from JAMA, and our list of most-cited retracted papers. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

The Retraction Watch 2015 review: A year of gratitude and expansion

It’s been a great 12 months for Retraction Watch. We took some major steps as an organization. Some highlights:

Author retracts statements about gay conversion therapy

Key assertions in a paper on homosexuality have been removed from the Journal of the Islamic Medical Association of North America, in what the notice describes as a “partial retraction.” The 2006 article “Homosexuality: An Islamic Perspective,” states that conversion therapy can be effective, and that gay people have poorer health. Those statements are among those that lack evidence, according to … Continue reading Author retracts statements about gay conversion therapy

Weekend reads: NFL, NIH butt heads on concussion research; should all papers be anonymous?

The week at Retraction Watch featured our annual roundup of the year’s top retractions for The Scientist, a retraction from Science, and claims about a book Aristotle never wrote. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Eight retractions for fake reviews lead journal to suspend author nominations

An investigation has uncovered fake reviews on 21 papers submitted to the Journal of the Renin-Angiotensin Aldosterone System. After taking a second look at accepted papers with an author-nominated reviewer, the journal discovered that the listed reviewers on the 21 papers, though real people, had never submitted a report. Eight of the papers have been retracted by … Continue reading Eight retractions for fake reviews lead journal to suspend author nominations

Authors retract antioxidant paper after more work reverses their conclusion

The authors of a paper about the benefits of an antioxidant found in blueberries known as pterostilbene have retracted it after their subsequent research suggested the antioxidant might actually be harmful. The paper presented evidence that the antioxidant might help rats after heart attack, in part by inhibiting cell death (apoptosis). But according to the retraction note, more … Continue reading Authors retract antioxidant paper after more work reverses their conclusion

Science retracts physics paper after magnetic field wasn’t what it seemed

Science has retracted an August paper on an interesting electric current researchers observed in a kind of material called a topological insulator. Well, a current the researchers — based at Stanford and MIT — thought they had observed. A magnetic field with particular attributes reported in the paper seemed to provide evidence of the current. But the researchers soon discovered that … Continue reading Science retracts physics paper after magnetic field wasn’t what it seemed