A physics journal has retracted a 2016 study after learning that the author published it without the knowledge or permission of the funder, which had a confidentiality agreement in place for the work. According to the retraction notice in Applied Physics Letters, the paper also lifted content from other researchers without due credit. Given the “legal … Continue reading Physics journal removes study for breach of confidentiality
Bowing to outraged scientists, the American Physical Society (APS) has retracted a press release (archived here) it issued yesterday that urged President-elect Donald Trump to “Make America Great Again” by strengthening “scientific leadership.” The statement, attributed to Tawanda Johnson, in the APS’ Washington, D.C. office, congratulated Trump on his victory over Hillary Clinton and said the … Continue reading Make America Retract Again: Physics group yanks release that quoted Trump, angered scientists
The Texas institute that participated in the groundbreaking gravitational waves discovery had to repay nearly $5 million in funding after misusing and misreporting benefits, according to audits obtained by The Monitor. The infractions occurred at The University of Texas Brownsville, which has since become part of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). Once the issues were … Continue reading Texas participant in physics breakthrough repaid $5M in misspent funds
An Elsevier journal has angered an author by removing his study without telling him. After spending months asking the journal why it removed the paper — about a heavily debated theorem in physics — and getting no response, the author threatened to seek damages from the journal and publisher for “permanently stigmatizing” his work. Yesterday, an Elsevier … Continue reading Physics journal retracts paper without alerting author
A publisher is retracting two papers today by a team of physicists who took a short cut in reporting their data. The papers present a method for imaging very small things — like biological processes on a molecular scale — that could be an alternative to electron microscopy, as the authors explain in a video. But after … Continue reading Physics journal pulls two papers for data shortcuts
Science has retracted an August paper on an interesting electric current researchers observed in a kind of material called a topological insulator. Well, a current the researchers — based at Stanford and MIT — thought they had observed. A magnetic field with particular attributes reported in the paper seemed to provide evidence of the current. But the researchers soon discovered that … Continue reading Science retracts physics paper after magnetic field wasn’t what it seemed
This week, PubPeer filed a motion to quash a subpoena demanding that they reveal the names of some of their commenters. Here’s another installment of PubPeer Selections:
A paper in Physical Review Letters has been retracted for “overlap” with two other previously published papers. The notice isn’t available online yet, so we got in touch with American Physical Society (APS) editorial director Dan Kulp for more information. Here’s what he told us about “Anomalous melting scenario of the two-dimensional core-softened system”:
A paper on photonic quantum walks has been retracted over a theoretical disagreement. The notice is also paywalled, which the editorial director has assured us is a mistake that is being corrected. We sent the COPE guidelines on retraction to the American Physical Society, which publishes Physical Review Letters. Editorial director Dan Kulp told us the … Continue reading Quantum physics paper pulled for “serious theoretical errors,” notice accidentally paywalled
We don’t love this somewhat incoherent retraction for a paper on coherent states, although luckily the publisher was prompt with telling us a little more about what happened. On October 2, a 2008 physics paper, “Generation of a superposition of coherent states in a resonant cavity and its nonclassicality and decoherence,” was retracted for “several scientific … Continue reading “Several scientific errors” sink physics paper after rewrite opportunity