Weekend reads: Waste in research, a praise-worthy swift correction in NEJM, and more
The first full week of 2014 featured a slew of stories and commentary about scientific publishing and related issues. Here’s a sampling:
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Big trouble in little China: Two looks at what warps scientific publishing there
The press corps has turned its attention to scientific publishing in China this week. Here’s Naomi Ching’s lede — that’s how we spell it in journalism — from Nautilus: You may have heard that Chinese researchers are not very well compensated, compared to their Western counterparts. What you might not know is that they can … Continue reading Big trouble in little China: Two looks at what warps scientific publishing there
Heart retracts stent-ReoPro paper over data dispute with authors (save one)
We’re a few months late on this one, but Heart, a BMJ title, issued a fascinating retraction notice in August about a meta-analysis on percutaneous coronary intervention (that’s stenting to you and me) after suffering a heart attack, and the drug abciximab, which is used to prevent clotting and additional near-term heart attacks. Abciximab is … Continue reading Heart retracts stent-ReoPro paper over data dispute with authors (save one)
“Misconduct” leads to retraction from Italian “super surgeon” under house arrest
Has the Annals of Thoracic Surgery had a change of heart? Evidently the publication that told us nearly two years ago, in effect, that the reasons for retractions in its pages were “none of [our] damn business” has decided that information is worth sharing after all. The ATS has retracted a paper it published in … Continue reading “Misconduct” leads to retraction from Italian “super surgeon” under house arrest
Pharmacology journal expresses concern over “similar, but updated” review
The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology has issued an “expression of concern” for a 2003 review article, based on a previous lecture, with close echoes to a paper that had appeared in one of The Lancet titles. Here’s the notice for the article, by Peter Winstanley, dean of the Warwick Medical School in the United … Continue reading Pharmacology journal expresses concern over “similar, but updated” review
Fireworks: Belgian dispute over ovarian transplant findings includes claims of theft, arson
There’s a story brewing in Belgium that is, as one local newspaper put it, worthy of a TV drama. Here’s our attempt at a summary: Jacques Donnez, chair of Catholic University of Louvain’s (UCL) gynecology department, and colleagues published two studies in Human Reproduction in 2010. One study claimed to show that a woman had given birth … Continue reading Fireworks: Belgian dispute over ovarian transplant findings includes claims of theft, arson
Former Millennium Villages Project staffer responds to critical Nature editorial
Last week, we wrote about a correction of a heavily criticized paper in The Lancet by the Millennium Villages Project, a large aid program. Paul Pronyk, director of monitoring and evaluation at Columbia University’s Center for Global Health and Economic Development, which runs the Project, left his job shortly after writing an explanatory letter that … Continue reading Former Millennium Villages Project staffer responds to critical Nature editorial
The Anil Potti retraction record so far
A 60 Minutes segment Sunday on Anil Potti has drawn national attention to the case, so we thought this would be a good time to compile all of the retractions and corrections in one place. Duke has said that about a third of Potti’s 40-some-odd papers would be retracted, and another third would have “a … Continue reading The Anil Potti retraction record so far
An arXiv for all of science? F1000 launches new immediate publication journal
Late last year, we published an invited commentary in Nature calling for science to more formally embrace post-publication peer review, and stop fetishizing the published paper. One of the models we cited was Faculty of 1000 (F1000), “in which experts flag important papers in their field.” So it’s not surprising that F1000 is announcing today … Continue reading An arXiv for all of science? F1000 launches new immediate publication journal
How do Croatian scientists deal with retractions and misconduct? A guest post by Mico Tatalovic
Today, we have the pleasure of presenting a guest post from Mico Tatalovic, who has just published a piece in the monthly magazine Tehnopolis on retractions in journals in his home country, Croatia. Here, he describes the reporting that went into that feature, which he says was inspired by Retraction Watch. You may think that in a … Continue reading How do Croatian scientists deal with retractions and misconduct? A guest post by Mico Tatalovic