Researchers apparently don’t need to be real to publish in scientific journals. Take Nicholas Zafetti of Clemson University, in South Carolina, who has at least nine publications to his name. Or Giorgos Jimenez of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with 12 papers under his belt. Both identities seem to be bogus, according to Alexander Magazinov, a … Continue reading What’s in a name? Made-up authors are penning dozens of papers
Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to well over 350. There are more than 43,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains well over … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Egregious misconduct’ by biotech collaborator; an IVF doctor with allegedly fake credentials; ChatGPT not the problem in publishing
Elsevier journals are retracting eight studies after learning that one of the authors on the papers was “fictitious” – as in a similar case we reported on recently. The ostensible author, Toshiyuki Bangi, was listed as affiliated with the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The eight studies, which … Continue reading Eight papers retracted after author found to be fictional
Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to nearly 350. There are now 41,000 retractions in our database — which powers retraction alerts in Edifix, EndNote, LibKey, Papers, and Zotero. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains 200 titles. And have you seen … Continue reading Weekend reads: The black market for papers; the secret life of retractions; a ‘troublesome pattern’
Sage Publishing is retracting 37 articles from an engineering journal after finding “indicators of third party involvement” in the peer review process. The publisher’s investigation continues, and more papers may be retracted, a spokesperson for the company told Retraction Watch. A single retraction notice lists the links of the 37 papers to be retracted from … Continue reading Sage retracting three dozen articles for ‘compromised’ peer review
Earlier this year, a financial advisor published a paper purporting to find that his colleagues who had pursued accreditation as “Certified Financial Planners” (CFPs) were more likely to engage in misconduct. What the paper didn’t mention: That he had sued the CFP Board, the organization that offered that certification, and given up his own CFP … Continue reading Financial advisor failed to disclose he had sued the organization his paper criticized
The authors of a 2018 nanoscience paper have retracted the article after three doctoral students highlighted a problem with its methods. The 2018 study attracted media attention for suggesting that nanospears, microscopic structures similar to splinters, may be useful in delivering gene therapies. Paul Weiss, a nanoscientist and a corresponding author of the paper, announced … Continue reading Prominent nanoscientist retracts paper after PhD students flagged error
Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Sports medicine researcher Paul McCrory requests another retraction Journal editor explains ban on manuscripts from Russian institutions NASA researchers retract Nature paper on climate change and evapotranspiration Was leading sports medicine researcher’s plagiarism ‘an … Continue reading Weekend reads: An academic and a Russian spy; concussion expert resigns from committee; publishing peer reviews
Researchers in the United States and Singapore have lost a 2016 article in Science Advances after some of the group learned that one of their colleagues appears to have used duplicated images in the work. The article, “A universal cooperative assembly-directed method for coating of mesoporous TiO2 nanoshells with enhanced lithium storage properties,” was written … Continue reading Nanotech paper retracted for duplicated images
A second journal has said it was unaware of a cash for citations scheme that named it as a participant, following our reporting in August. The Journal of Clinical and Translational Research (JCTR) was one of five journals listed by Innoscience Research that Innoscience would pay $6 per citation to its work, as we reported … Continue reading Another journal distances itself from cash for citations after Retraction Watch report