A team of what you might call daredevil researchers has lost a paper about a sport called cable wakeboarding after they tried to publish, in English, a very similar version of what they’d published in German. We have a confession to make: Before sitting down to write this post, we had no idea what cable … Continue reading Oh, snap: Cable wakeboarding injury paper falls to duplication
Family Practice has retracted a 2009 review article on diabetes whose author had published a similar — in spots identical — paper two years earlier in another journal. We think the notice is nine-tenths solid, but there’s a part at the end that raises an important question about how much, or little, editors should do … Continue reading Family Practice affair: Diabetes paper pulled for redundancy, which journal calls “honest error”
In April 2011, we praised Psychological Science for its handling of a retraction. At the time, we went as far as to call the retraction notice a “model” of transparency for other journals to follow. Well, they evidently took that compliment seriously, according to a new retraction notice for a paper by Lawrence Sanna. Sanna … Continue reading Psychological Science retracts a Sanna paper, citing lawyers, COPE…and Retraction Watch
Yesterday, we brought you news of a story in Belgium involving questions about whether a woman who gave birth following an ovarian transplant could have become pregnant without the transplant. The case, which led to a university investigation but no retraction, included allegations of theft and arson. This morning, we were made aware of a … Continue reading Ovarian transplant update: Authors of 2004 live-birth follow-up letter ask Lancet to retract it
There’s a story brewing in Belgium that is, as one local newspaper put it, worthy of a TV drama. Here’s our attempt at a summary: Jacques Donnez, chair of Catholic University of Louvain’s (UCL) gynecology department, and colleagues published two studies in Human Reproduction in 2010. One study claimed to show that a woman had given birth … Continue reading Fireworks: Belgian dispute over ovarian transplant findings includes claims of theft, arson
Here’s a new one that may stoke the debate about whether a paper deserves retraction merely for being wrong or less than fully right. The journal Cell Biochemistry and Function, a Wiley title, has retracted an article it published earlier this year by a pair of Chinese authors — or, rather, from one author an … Continue reading Biochemistry journal retracts paper for being, well, less than conclusive
As its research institutions grow and mature, the Brazilian scientific establishment is hoping its scientists encourage research integrity and responsible conduct of research. In late May, Ivan was invited to Brazil to take part in the Second Brazilian Meeting on Research Integrity, Science and Publication Ethics(II BRISPE). Organized by the Medical Biochemistry Institute (IBqM/UFRJ) & … Continue reading Brazil statement urges culture of research integrity
There is apparently a special this week on websites posting news of drug approvals before they actually happen. On Monday, USA Today inadvertently posted a story about the approval of Qsymia, a weight loss drug, several hours before the FDA made an announcement. Today, Amarin, which makes a compound designed to lower triglycerides, put up … Continue reading Amarin pulls a Romney: For the second time in a week, premature news of FDA drug approval posted, then retracted
USA Today has yanked back a story about a diet drug’s approval by the FDA — because the FDA hasn’t actually approved the drug yet. The FDA is scheduled to announce its decision on the subject of the story — Vivus’ Qnexa — today. The decision has been closely watched. The story, headlined “New diet … Continue reading USA Today posts story on approval of diet drug too soon, takes it down
There has been plenty of interest in scientific fraud and misconduct lately — and not just on Retraction Watch — from major news outlets and government agencies, among other parties. The rate of retractions is increasing, and some fraudsters are even setting new records. That has focused attention on how institutions can prevent misconduct — … Continue reading How can institutions prevent scientific misconduct?