What happens to copies of retracted papers on non-publisher websites (eg PubMed Central)?

One of the important questions when it comes to retractions is, what happens to retracted papers? How do readers find out they’re retracted? There’s evidence they are cited less often, but that when they are cited, the vast majority of the time it’s as if they were never retracted. So with all of that in … Continue reading What happens to copies of retracted papers on non-publisher websites (eg PubMed Central)?

Anesthesia journal retracts paper from Estonian researchers in wake of legal inquiry

Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica has retracted a 2008 paper by a group of Estonian researchers who appear to have wound up in legal jeopardy for misrepresenting their work. Here’s the notice:

Oh, snap: Cable wakeboarding injury paper falls to duplication

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

Happy second anniversary, Retraction Watch: Plus, our plans for year three

We didn’t plan it this way, but our second anniversary gift came a few days early this week, when we learned that a retraction notice had cited us. Given that the traditional second anniversary gift is cotton, and we’re really not sure what to do with that information, we’re much happier — and humbled — … Continue reading Happy second anniversary, Retraction Watch: Plus, our plans for year three

Transparency in action: EMBO Journal detects manipulated images, then has them corrected before publishing

As Retraction Watch readers know, we’re big fans of transparency. Today, for example, The Scientist published an opinion piece we wrote calling for a Transparency Index for journals. So perhaps it’s no surprise that we’re also big fans of open peer review, in which all of a papers’ reviews are made available to readers once … Continue reading Transparency in action: EMBO Journal detects manipulated images, then has them corrected before publishing

Psychological Science retracts a Sanna paper, citing lawyers, COPE…and Retraction Watch

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

What happens when a correction is retracted?

Seyed Rasoul Mousavi, assistant professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at the Isfahan University of Technology in Khomeynīshahr, Iran, has been working on a way to help biologists assemble genomes with as little information as possible. Last year, Mousavi submitted a manuscript to the Journal of Theoretical Biology, received acceptance after peer review, … Continue reading What happens when a correction is retracted?

How can institutions prevent scientific misconduct?

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?

Noteworthy: Journal posts all the corrections it wanted in a climate change paper after authors refuse most

In a case of refreshing transparency, a journal has published a detailed list of corrections it requested from authors of a paper on the costs of climate change, even though the authors declined to make most of them. Earlier this year, the journal Ecological Economics published a paper that cast some doubt on the FUND … Continue reading Noteworthy: Journal posts all the corrections it wanted in a climate change paper after authors refuse most

A first? Papers retracted for citation manipulation

In what appears to be a first, two papers have been retracted for including citations designed to help another journal improve its impact factor rankings. The articles in The Scientific World Journal cited papers in Cell Transplantation, which in turn appears to have cited to a high degree other journals with shared board members. Here’s … Continue reading A first? Papers retracted for citation manipulation