Search Results for: nature

Weekend reads: Retraction counts by country; ‘zombie facts;’ false allegations fell president

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up past 450. There are more than 50,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains more than 300 titles. … Continue reading Weekend reads: Retraction counts by country; ‘zombie facts;’ false allegations fell president

Who you calling ‘bignose’? Shark paper corrected after species mix-up

A case of mistaken identity among sharks has led to a correction that changed, among other content, an article’s title, its abstract and the discussion section.  The paper, published in February 2024 in Environmental Biology of Fishes, was originally titled “Expanded vertical niche for two species of pelagic sharks: depth range extension for the dusky … Continue reading Who you calling ‘bignose’? Shark paper corrected after species mix-up

Weekend reads: ‘Lack of informed consent’ in DNA data; protecting the ‘prey’ of predatory journals; another ivermectin-COVID-19 retraction

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up past 450. There are more than 50,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains more than 300 titles. … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Lack of informed consent’ in DNA data; protecting the ‘prey’ of predatory journals; another ivermectin-COVID-19 retraction

Weekend reads: ‘Honest overachievers;’ the unpublished Lucy Letby paper; ‘atom-thin salami slicing’

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up past 450. There are more than 50,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains more than 300 titles. And have you seen our leaderboard … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Honest overachievers;’ the unpublished Lucy Letby paper; ‘atom-thin salami slicing’

Evolution journal editors resign en masse to protest Elsevier changes

All but one member of the editorial board of the Journal of Human Evolution (JHE), an Elsevier title, have resigned, saying the “sustained actions of Elsevier are fundamentally incompatible with the ethos of the journal and preclude maintaining the quality and integrity fundamental to JHE’s success.”  “Elsevier has steadily eroded the infrastructure essential to the … Continue reading Evolution journal editors resign en masse to protest Elsevier changes

A look back at 2024 at Retraction Watch, and forward to 2025

If 2024 felt like a whirlwind, you’re not alone. It was another busy one here at Retraction Watch, too. Some numbers to tell that story: A sampling of a few other key accomplishments this year:

Journals investigating dozens of papers by leading Canadian urologists

A high-profile Canadian urologist received an editorial expression of concern for one of his papers this month, after anonymous comments on PubPeer flagged suspected data duplication in dozens of his articles.  By our count, sleuths have flagged 30 papers co-authored by Martin Gleave, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada and co-founder … Continue reading Journals investigating dozens of papers by leading Canadian urologists

Weekend reads: Shoddy commentaries flood journals; key hydroxychloroquine paper retracted; a researcher confesses

Dear RW readers, can you spare $25? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up past 450. There are more than 50,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains more than 300 titles. And have you seen our leaderboard … Continue reading Weekend reads: Shoddy commentaries flood journals; key hydroxychloroquine paper retracted; a researcher confesses

EcoHealth Alliance retracts and replaces paper on potential origin of COVID-19 in bats

The authors of an influential but controversial 2020 paper on the activity of bat coronaviruses in China which proposed the animals as a “likely origin” for the virus that causes COVID-19 have retracted their work and republished a revised version of the analysis. They say their results and conclusions did not change. The paper, “Origin … Continue reading EcoHealth Alliance retracts and replaces paper on potential origin of COVID-19 in bats

Researcher linked to paper mill activity mysteriously reappeared on list of journal’s editorial board

An engineer accused of being involved in paper mill activities mysteriously reappeared on a list of editorial board members at Springer Nature’s Scientific Reports earlier this year, Retraction Watch has learned. The journal had “parted ways” with the engineer, Masoud Afrand of the Islamic Azad University in Iran, in March 2022 after an internal audit … Continue reading Researcher linked to paper mill activity mysteriously reappeared on list of journal’s editorial board