Search Results for: sting

Weekend reads: How university rankings lead to bad science; how to report research misconduct; the impact of Retraction Watch reporting

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 The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to more than 300. There are now 40,000 retractions in our database — which powers retraction alerts in EndNote, LibKey, Papers, and Zotero. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains 200 titles. And have you … Continue reading Weekend reads: How university rankings lead to bad science; how to report research misconduct; the impact of Retraction Watch reporting

Exclusive: Alleged research misconduct cost Turkish surgeons tenure

Two orthopedic surgeons in Turkey will not attain tenured professorships following alleged research misconduct that, so far, has also cost them a pair of publications, Retraction Watch has learned.  Mehmet Faruk Çatma and Serhan Ünlü are among the authors of a paper about hip-replacement surgery that was published in 2016 in International Orthopedics and retracted … Continue reading Exclusive: Alleged research misconduct cost Turkish surgeons tenure

Scientist with six retractions wins challenge of firing, funding ban

Ten years after a neuroscientist was fired from his job at a Veterans Administration Medical Center, he has won a challenge of the decision. Wayne State University, where the researcher, Christian Kreipke, was studying traumatic brain injury, fired him in February 2012 following a research misconduct investigation that found he had faked data. At the … Continue reading Scientist with six retractions wins challenge of firing, funding ban

After backlash, publisher to retract article that surveyed parents of children with gender dysphoria, says co-author

Springer Nature will retract an article that reported results of a survey of parents who thought their children’s gender dysphoria resulted from social contagion. The move is “due to concerns about lack of informed consent,” according to tweets by one of the paper’s authors.  The article, “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria: Parent Reports on 1655 Possible … Continue reading After backlash, publisher to retract article that surveyed parents of children with gender dysphoria, says co-author

Researcher loses PhD after admitting to fudging images

A university in Japan has revoked the doctoral degree of a former student found to have manipulated images and graphs in a dissertation and two published papers. “Although our university has been working to raise awareness of research ethics in order to prevent research misconduct, it is extremely regrettable that such a situation has occurred,” … Continue reading Researcher loses PhD after admitting to fudging images

Paper with authorship posted for sale retracted nearly two years after Retraction Watch report

An engineering journal has retracted an article that was posted on a website claiming to sell author positions. The retraction comes nearly two years after we reported on the website and a whistleblower informed the journal. The study, “On the dynamics of an ultra-fast-rotating-induced piezoelectric cantilevered nanodisk surrounded by viscoelastic foundation,” appeared in Mechanics Based … Continue reading Paper with authorship posted for sale retracted nearly two years after Retraction Watch report

Prominent nanoscientist retracts paper after PhD students flagged error

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

Australian study supporting mask mandates earns expression of concern

A journal has issued an expression of concern for an Australian study that supported mask mandates after researchers raised several potential problems with the design and methodology of the study. The article, “The introduction of a mandatory mask policy was associated with significantly reduced COVID-19 cases in a major metropolitan city,” was published in the … Continue reading Australian study supporting mask mandates earns expression of concern

Nature editors retract influential cancer paper with “unreliable” data 

Editors at Nature have retracted a 2015 paper on breast cancer metastases citing trouble with the data in the supplementary materials.  The paper, “The hypoxic cancer secretome induces pre-metastatic bone lesions through lysyl oxidase,” was first published in May 2015 and has been cited 352 times, according to Clarivate’s Web of Science.  This marks the … Continue reading Nature editors retract influential cancer paper with “unreliable” data 

Torturing data to predict bitcoin prices: A book excerpt

We are pleased to present an excerpt from Distrust: Big Data, Data-Torturing, and the Assault on Science, a new book by Pomona College economics professor Gary Smith. The Washington Post said the book’s lessons “are very much needed.” The fact that changes in bitcoin prices are driven by fear, greed, and manipulation has not stopped … Continue reading Torturing data to predict bitcoin prices: A book excerpt