A journal has published a corrected version of a widely reported study linking severe illness and divorce rates after it was retracted in July due to a small coding error. The original, headline-spawning conclusion was that the risk of divorce in a heterosexual marriage increases when the wife falls ill, but not the husband. The revised results — published … Continue reading Divorce study felled by a coding error gets a second chance
In 2005, the U.S. Office of Research Integrity announced that obesity researcher Eric Poehlman had committed misconduct in 10 published papers. You might think that all of those ten articles would have been retracted a decade later. You’d be wrong. Only six of them have. Here’s what Elizabeth Wager (a member of the board of directors of The … Continue reading How long does it take to retract a paper? A look at the Eric Poehlman record
The week at Retraction Watch featured the correction of a widely covered study claiming to find evidence of the plague and anthrax on New York City subways, and rulings against scientists suing Harvard, a journal, and the CBC. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is retracting a paper that showed genetically engineered rice serves as an effective vitamin A supplement after a Massachusetts judge denied the first author’s motion for an injunction against the publisher. The journal announced plans to retract the paper last year following allegations that the paper contained ethical mis-steps, such … Continue reading Golden rice paper pulled after judge rules for journal
This week at Retraction Watch saw us report on thousands of retractions from IEEE, which will have a serious effect on retraction record-keeping, a bizarre case of author impersonation, and a look at dentistry in outer space. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:
The week at Retraction Watch featured the story behind a Nature retraction, and the retraction of a paper by a pioneer in the field of exosome research. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:
As every mushroom lover knows, weekend mycology is no sport for the lily-livered. Tasty species often look awfully like their deadly cousins. Turns out, typing can even be problematic for the experts. Natural Products Research is retracting a 2014 paper on shelf fungus because… well, it wasn’t about shelf fungus after all. The paper, “Chemical … Continue reading Fungus among us, but what kind? Typing error spawns retraction for mushroom paper
Note: This story has been updated to include the journal’s response. See below. Yesterday, John Bohannon described in i09.com how he successfully”created” health news — he conducted a flawed trial of the health benefits of chocolate, gamed the data to produce statistically significant results, and published the findings in the International Archives of Medicine: It was terrible science. … Continue reading Should the chocolate-diet sting study be retracted? And why the coverage doesn’t surprise a news watchdog
The British Journal of Sports Medicine has “temporarily removed” an editorial arguing that physical activity alone will not cure the obesity epidemic, following an expression of concern. In its place stands the following message: This paper has been temporarily removed following an expression of concern. First author Assem Malhotra, based at the Department of Cardiology, … Continue reading Widely covered editorial extolling importance of diet over exercise “temporarily removed”
A paper in Food Chemistry suggesting cranberry extract has healing properties was retracted after some of the authors complained they had no idea the paper was being published. Here’s the notice for “Phenolic composition, antioxidant properties, and endothelial cell function of red and white cranberry fruits:”