Sage retracting three dozen articles for ‘compromised’ peer review

Sage Publishing is retracting 37 articles from an engineering journal after finding “indicators of third party involvement” in the peer review process.  The publisher’s investigation continues, and more papers may be retracted, a spokesperson for the company told Retraction Watch.  A single retraction notice lists the links of the 37 papers to be retracted from … Continue reading Sage retracting three dozen articles for ‘compromised’ peer review

Journal to retract papers that cost its impact factor and spot in leading index

A journal that didn’t get an impact factor this year after Clarivate, the company behind the closely-watched but controversial metric, identified unusual citations in several articles will retract the offending papers, according to its editor.  Genetika, a publication of the Serbian Genetics Society, did not receive an updated impact factor in Clarivate’s 2023 Journal Citation … Continue reading Journal to retract papers that cost its impact factor and spot in leading index

University cuts anesthesiology researcher’s funding amid four retractions

An anesthesiologist who had his funding revoked for fabricating data has earned a fourth retraction for publishing the same data in two Springer Nature journals.  Wen-fei Tan, an anesthesiologist at The First Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang, is the first author of the recently retracted paper “Changes in the first postoperative night bispectral … Continue reading University cuts anesthesiology researcher’s funding amid four retractions

Exclusive: Researcher has “ceased employment” at university amid investigation and retraction 

A neurology researcher in Australia is no longer employed at his former university in the midst of a research misconduct investigation, Retraction Watch has learned. And the work of a co-author at another institution also is being assessed for possible research misconduct after sleuths alerted the university to comments on PubPeer about potential data issues … Continue reading Exclusive: Researcher has “ceased employment” at university amid investigation and retraction 

Plague of anomalies in conference proceedings hint at ‘systemic issues’

Hundreds of conference papers published by the U.S.-based Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) show signs of plagiarism, citation fraud and other types of scientific misconduct, according to data sleuths. “I am concerned that the issue with these particular conferences is widespread enough such that it indicates systemic issues with their peer review systems,” … Continue reading Plague of anomalies in conference proceedings hint at ‘systemic issues’

Data sleuth flags 30 randomized clinical trials from researcher in Egypt

Thirty randomized clinical trials involving a researcher in Egypt who has already had six papers retracted show signs of research misconduct and data fabrication, according to the authors of a recent preprint.  Ben Mol, one of the authors of the preprint and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Monash University in Australia, has spent … Continue reading Data sleuth flags 30 randomized clinical trials from researcher in Egypt

Exclusive: Top-tier university in Japan investigating prof’s alleged misconduct

Tokyo’s Waseda University is investigating alleged misconduct by an assistant professor at the institution, Retraction Watch has learned. The probe is focusing on at least three works by Woohyang Sim, of the Faculty of International Research and Education, including her 2020 doctoral dissertation, titled “What is Higher Education For? Educational Aspirations and Career Prospects of … Continue reading Exclusive: Top-tier university in Japan investigating prof’s alleged misconduct

Texas dept. chair no longer in position amid university investigation and retraction

The chair of the Department of Pulmonary Immunology at the University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center lost a paper last year after an institutional investigation found several issues with the data in the article. Although the researcher, Ramakrishna Vankayalapati, is still identified as the chair on his online profile and the department’s website, … Continue reading Texas dept. chair no longer in position amid university investigation and retraction

Retractions should not take longer than two months, says UK Parliament committee

A new report from a UK Parliament committee calls for scientific publishers to correct and retract papers much quicker than they currently do, for the sake of research integrity and reproducibility.  The Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee of the House of Commons issued its report today, following an inquiry to which Retraction Watch and … Continue reading Retractions should not take longer than two months, says UK Parliament committee

Australian study supporting mask mandates earns expression of concern

A journal has issued an expression of concern for an Australian study that supported mask mandates after researchers raised several potential problems with the design and methodology of the study. The article, “The introduction of a mandatory mask policy was associated with significantly reduced COVID-19 cases in a major metropolitan city,” was published in the … Continue reading Australian study supporting mask mandates earns expression of concern