A tale of (3)2 retraction notices: On publishers, paper mill products, and the sleuths that find them

Should publishers acknowledge the work of sleuths when their work has led to retractions? We were prompted to pose the question by a recent retraction from International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics of a 2021 paper. The notice reads:

‘One would not want to tarnish another journal’: Why a republished COVID-19 masks study doesn’t say it was retracted

When a retracted paper is republished in a new journal, should it note the retraction? A few readers have asked us that question as they forwarded a paper published in May in Environmental Research, an Elsevier title. The study, “Carbon dioxide rises beyond acceptable safety levels in children under nose and mouth covering: Results of … Continue reading ‘One would not want to tarnish another journal’: Why a republished COVID-19 masks study doesn’t say it was retracted

University of Fukui professor called out for fake peer review, loses “love hormone” paper

A researcher in Japan appears to have written laudatory comments about her articles that a colleague passed off as his own during peer review. This may have happened for as many as five papers, two of which have been retracted. Akemi Tomoda, of the Child Development Research Center at the University of Fukui, collaborated with … Continue reading University of Fukui professor called out for fake peer review, loses “love hormone” paper

Weekend reads: Publication hijacking; questions about Sputnik vaccine; no more second round of review?

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: NYU postdoc with federal research misconduct settlement awarded NIH grant An Elsevier journal said it would retract 10 papers two years ago. It still hasn’t. UPenn prof with four retractions “may no longer be affiliated” … Continue reading Weekend reads: Publication hijacking; questions about Sputnik vaccine; no more second round of review?

Weekend reads: Automated peer review; ‘journal editors resign in protest;’ attention to retracted papers

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Retraction leads to review change at SAGE journal ‘This has been a nightmare’: One paper was retracted. The other still lingers. Journal run by new AMA president-elect caught in special issue scam Extensive correction adds … Continue reading Weekend reads: Automated peer review; ‘journal editors resign in protest;’ attention to retracted papers

Weekend reads: ‘Foul play’ among protective scholars; how to increase rigor; science and a ‘culture of misinformation’

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: A stolen manuscript, part two: The plagiarist begs for forgiveness as another group plagiarizes the same work A paper claimed to describe ‘the first potent and specific anti-COVID-19 drug.’ Now it’s retracted. Medical school dean … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Foul play’ among protective scholars; how to increase rigor; science and a ‘culture of misinformation’

Widely touted abstract on ivermectin and COVID-19 retracted

The authors of a controversial meeting abstract linking ivermectin to lower mortality from Covid-19 have retracted the study, saying that the work has been widely “misinterpreted” and might be leading to patient harm.  The abstract, “Treatment with Ivermectin Is Associated with Decreased Mortality in COVID-19 Patients: Analysis of a National Federated Database,” was presented at … Continue reading Widely touted abstract on ivermectin and COVID-19 retracted

A hare-raising expression of concern after an author hires a third party to get a paper published

An Elsevier journal has issued a rather remarkable expression of concern for a 2021 paper on rabbit husbandry after learning that the lead author misrepresented the authorship of the article – and possibly more.  The paper, “Supplementing rabbit diets with butylated hydroxyanisole affects oxidative stress, growth performance, and meat quality,” appeared in animal and ostensibly … Continue reading A hare-raising expression of concern after an author hires a third party to get a paper published

Weekend reads: Female driver stereotypes; ‘stealth research’; AI comes to fake scientific images

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Journal about ‘ambient intelligence’ retracts more than 50 papers at once The “internet may be a challenging venue”: Biomedical engineering group up to four retractions Drug researchers in Russia have four papers subjected to expressions … Continue reading Weekend reads: Female driver stereotypes; ‘stealth research’; AI comes to fake scientific images

The “internet may be a challenging venue”: Biomedical engineering group up to four retractions

A group of biomedical engineering researchers has lost four papers because they appear to be recycling their images from other papers.  The retractions for the group, from Banaras Hindu University in India, span papers published between 2011 and 2014. The retractions began in 2020, after anonymous PubPeer commenters pointed out the similarities between images. The … Continue reading The “internet may be a challenging venue”: Biomedical engineering group up to four retractions