Weekend reads: Russian co-authorship ban; predatory conferences; ‘Does peer review improve the statistical content of manuscripts?’

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Stanford prof appeals order to pay $428K in legal fees after dropping defamation suit Journal sends cease-and-desist letter to a company marketing a homeopathic alternative to opioids How journal editors kept questionable data about women’s … Continue reading Weekend reads: Russian co-authorship ban; predatory conferences; ‘Does peer review improve the statistical content of manuscripts?’

Journal retracts paper listed on authorship for sale site following Retraction Watch report

An Elsevier journal has retracted a paper that was listed by a firm claiming to sell authorships months after we reported on the site. On Sept. 7, 2021, we published a story about the company, Teziran. On Sept. 14, pseudonymous sleuth Artemisia Stricta wrote to Ioannis Ieropoulos, the editor of Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, … Continue reading Journal retracts paper listed on authorship for sale site following Retraction Watch report

Weekend reads: Should open access advocates vilify publishers?; authorship for sale, $5,000; is economics just ‘bafflegab?’

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Cancer researcher faked data for 24 images in work funded by nine NIH grants: Federal watchdog The author of a retracted paper learns to be careful what he wishes for Journals acknowledge that a … Continue reading Weekend reads: Should open access advocates vilify publishers?; authorship for sale, $5,000; is economics just ‘bafflegab?’

Weekend reads: A White House official’s retraction; ‘bosom peril;’ nonsense with a forged authorship

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Exclusive: How a researcher faked data and gaslit a labmate for years COVID-19 spike protein paper earns an expression of concern Frontiers retracts a dozen papers, many more expected Authors to correct PNAS ‘nudge’ … Continue reading Weekend reads: A White House official’s retraction; ‘bosom peril;’ nonsense with a forged authorship

Weekend reads: A museum of scientific misconduct?; authorship misconduct; uproar over renamed phyla

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: ‘This is really ridiculous’: An author admitted plagiarism. His supervisor asked for a retraction. The publisher said, “nah.” University of Rochester cancer researchers included ‘incorrect images’ in 13 papers, committee finds Cancer journal with … Continue reading Weekend reads: A museum of scientific misconduct?; authorship misconduct; uproar over renamed phyla

Introducing two sites that claim to sell authorships on scientific papers

Two years ago, we reported on a website based in Russia that claimed to have brokered authorships for more than 10,000 researchers. (Apparently, neither our coverage nor a cease-and-desist letter from Clarivate Analytics had any effect on the site’s operations.) And now, we bring you news of what look like two very similar sites — … Continue reading Introducing two sites that claim to sell authorships on scientific papers

Weekend reads: Women’s authorships bounce back?; scientists go to court; demoted for plagiarism

Before we present this week’s Weekend Reads, a question: Do you enjoy our weekly roundup? If so, we could really use your help. Would you consider a tax-deductible donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: “I don’t think I slept for a day and a … Continue reading Weekend reads: Women’s authorships bounce back?; scientists go to court; demoted for plagiarism

Researcher republishes paper retracted for fake authorship — with a different co-author

A researcher in Bangladesh who fabricated a list of co-authors — and possibly her data, too — in a paper on dengue fever that was recently retracted has published the same article in a different journal. In 2019, Farzana Ahmed was a pediatric intensivist at United Hospital Ltd, in Dhaka, when she published a study … Continue reading Researcher republishes paper retracted for fake authorship — with a different co-author

Weekend reads: ‘Self-promotion journals;’ co-authorship for money, flattening the COVID-19 publication curve

Before we present this week’s Weekend Reads, a question: Do you enjoy our weekly roundup? If so, we could really use your help. Would you consider a tax-deductible donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. We turn 10 years old on Monday. Can you help us celebrate? The week at Retraction … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Self-promotion journals;’ co-authorship for money, flattening the COVID-19 publication curve

Former grad student forges his supervisor’s authorship — and gets smacked down

On December 29, Jan Behrends, of the Institute of Physiology at the University of Freiburg, in Germany, was checking his Google Scholar profile when he saw his name on a paper — one he’d played no part in writing.  The article, “Microelectrochemical cell arrays for whole-cell currents recording through ion channel proteins based on trans-electroporation … Continue reading Former grad student forges his supervisor’s authorship — and gets smacked down