‘Amateur bullshit’ is the price to pay for democratizing scholarly publishing, says editor

A case of author’s remorse immediately after publication of her paper has the editor of the journal calling “bullshit” on the decision to retract the work.  The paper, “Stopping the Revolving Door: Reducing 30-Day Psychiatric Readmissions With Post-discharge Telephone Calls,” was written by a trio of authors from AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, in southern New … Continue reading ‘Amateur bullshit’ is the price to pay for democratizing scholarly publishing, says editor

Weekend reads: Academic fraud factories; zombie science; ‘Silicon Valley’s new obsession’

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Authors admit to stealing parts of a paper from a thesis on an unrelated subject Should residents and fellows be encouraged to publish systematic reviews and meta-analyses? How an ivermectin study that didn’t mention … Continue reading Weekend reads: Academic fraud factories; zombie science; ‘Silicon Valley’s new obsession’

Exclusive: How a researcher faked data and gaslit a labmate for years

Sometime in early 2019, a postdoc in a veterinary microbiology lab at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman came to suspect that a research assistant in her lab was fabricating data. The postdoc had noticed that the research assistant’s experiments always produced positive results, while hers were always negative. And the experiments she performed with … Continue reading Exclusive: How a researcher faked data and gaslit a labmate for years

‘This is really ridiculous’: An author admitted plagiarism. His supervisor asked for a retraction. The publisher said, “nah.”

Behrouz Pourghebleh is perplexed. And also exasperated. Pourghebleh, of the Young Researchers and Elite Club at the Urmia branch of Islamic Azad University in Iran, noticed a paper published on December 15, 2020 in an IEEE journal that overlapped 80 percent with an article he’d co-authored the year before. Pourghebleh wrote to Zakirul Alam Bhuiyan, … Continue reading ‘This is really ridiculous’: An author admitted plagiarism. His supervisor asked for a retraction. The publisher said, “nah.”

Weekend reads: Academania; redaction bias; a Harvard star falls; top retractions of 2021

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: ‘Why did this take over five years?’ Reflecting on two … Continue reading Weekend reads: Academania; redaction bias; a Harvard star falls; top retractions of 2021

Revealed: The inner workings of a paper mill

In 2019, Retraction Watch ran an exclusive story of a Russian paper mill operating under the business name “International Publisher LLC”.  Since then, Retraction Watch and  other scientific news and blogging sites have continued to report on the activities of research paper mills, including International Publisher  and its primary website, 123mi.ru.  These mills provide an … Continue reading Revealed: The inner workings of a paper mill

Weekend reads: ‘Fraudulent and faulty research;’ a $275K settlement — but resignation — for a professor; ‘COVID-19, ivermectin, and beyond’

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: Exercise researcher earns more retractions as investigations mount Another setback … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Fraudulent and faulty research;’ a $275K settlement — but resignation — for a professor; ‘COVID-19, ivermectin, and beyond’

Researcher uses fake email address to submit a paper mill manuscript without corresponding author’s knowledge

A Springer Nature journal has retracted a paper sourced from a paper mill – not an uncommon occurrence nowadays. What adds a bit of intrigue is that the manuscript was submitted with a fake email address to keep the alleged corresponding author from knowing about it. The paper, “Electrophysiological Follow-Up of Patients with Chronic Peripheral … Continue reading Researcher uses fake email address to submit a paper mill manuscript without corresponding author’s knowledge

Engineering researcher who suddenly left postdoc has ninth paper retracted

An author with ties to researchers believed to have published hundreds of problematic papers has earned his ninth retraction, this time for forged authorship.  Mostafa Jalal, once a postdoc at Texas A&M University, is alleged to have “engaged in some manner of collaboration or communication” with three other researchers, including Ali Nazari, who has now … Continue reading Engineering researcher who suddenly left postdoc has ninth paper retracted

Weekend reads: Nepotism in journals; the lessons of the ‘lab leak’ theory; four decades of research misconduct

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: Nanotech paper retracted for duplicated images Group’s second paper on … Continue reading Weekend reads: Nepotism in journals; the lessons of the ‘lab leak’ theory; four decades of research misconduct