The humble chickpea has become one of the world’s most promising cash crops, so it’s no surprise that efforts are underway to make it even more humble, er, profitable, through genetic manipulation. But one group of scientists made hummus out of their approach when they botched what evidently was a key element of a figure … Continue reading Figure error forces retraction of transgenic chickpea paper
The journal Neuro-Oncology has retracted a 2011 paper by a group of researchers in Japan who had purported to find a genetic mechanism for how fluorescence can be used to diagnose certain brain tumors. The paper, “Enhanced expression of coproporphyrinogen oxidase in malignant brain tumors: CPOX expression and 5-ALA–induced fluorescence,” reported measurements using quantitative real-time … Continue reading “Technical but fundamental errors” lead to retraction of brain tumor paper
April showers bring … database errors? The other day, we wrote about two retractions in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and another in the American Heart Journal, stemming from database errors. Seems to be catching. The Economist (among other outlets) this week is reporting about a similar nother database glitch — not, … Continue reading Influential Reinhart-Rogoff economics paper suffers spreadsheet error
Coding errors in a database maintained by Pfizer have led authors to retract two heart biomarker papers in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The two notices, for “Prediction of cardiovascular events in statin-treated patients by lipid and non-lipid biomarkers” and “Plasma PCSK9 levels and clinical outcomes in the TNT (Treating to New … Continue reading Pfizer database errors cause two voluminous retractions for JACC statin-biomarker papers
The authors of a 2011 paper claiming that chimp “culture” has more to do with local habitats than with where the chimps live have retracted it after finding mistakes in their work. Here’s the notice for the paper, “Variation in chimpanzee ‘culture’ is predicted by local ecology, not geography:”
A JAMA journal has retracted a paper on vaping it published two months ago after the researchers alerted the editors to “significant coding errors” and other problems with the work. The article, “Efficacy of Electronic Cigarettes vs Varenicline and Nicotine Chewing Gum as an Aid to Stop Smoking: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” was written by … Continue reading Paper claiming vaping tops nicotine gum for smoking cessation retracted from JAMA journal
A highly cited economics paper that suggested people raised during recessions were more likely to vote for left-leaning political parties has been retracted, apparently due to a coding error that rendered the results invalid. The retraction marks a rarity among economics papers, which research has shown are infrequently retracted compared to papers on other subjects. … Continue reading Influential paper linking recessions and left-wing voting patterns retracted
A journal has issued an expression of concern for a nine year old paper, which purported to find that people associate morality with brightness (that’s light, not smarts), after a data sleuth found problems with the results. The article, “Is It Light or Dark? Recalling Moral Behavior Changes Perception of Brightness,” appeared in Psychological Science … Continue reading ‘I have zero complaints about the process’: Post-publication analysis earns perception paper a flag
A marketing journal is taking heat on social media for issuing an expression of concern over a 2019 paper that many readers believe should have been retracted — and correcting another instead of retracting it. The article now subject to an expression of concern, “Role of Ambient Temperature in Influencing Willingness to Pay in Auctions … Continue reading Readers puzzle over marketing journal’s failures to retract
Two years ago, Julia Strand, an assistant professor of psychology at Carleton College, published a paper in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review about how people strain to listen in crowded spaces (think: when they’re doing the opposite of social distancing). The article, titled “Talking points: A modulating circle reduces listening effort without improving speech recognition,” was … Continue reading “I was shocked. I felt physically ill.” And still, she corrected the record.