Here’s why more than 50,000 psychology studies are about to have PubPeer entries

PubPeer will see a surge of more than 50,000 entries for psychology studies in the next few weeks as part of an initiative that aims to identify statistical mistakes in academic literature. The detection process uses the algorithm “statcheck” — which we’ve covered previously in a guest post by one of its co-developers — to scan just under … Continue reading Here’s why more than 50,000 psychology studies are about to have PubPeer entries

Five more retractions for researcher who sued PubPeer commenters brings tally to 18

A cancer researcher who tried to sue PubPeer commenters for criticizing his work has earned five more retractions, bringing his total to 18.  All of the new retractions for Fazlul Sarkar, formerly based at Wayne State University in Michigan, appear in the International Journal of Cancer. All cite an institutional investigation, and relate to issues with images. … Continue reading Five more retractions for researcher who sued PubPeer commenters brings tally to 18

Meet the researcher with 13 retractions who’s trying to sue PubPeer commenters: Fazlul Sarkar

Fazlul Sarkar has not had a good month: In the last few weeks, he has earned 13 retractions across four journals, the latest in the fallout from a string of legal cases that have pitted him against one of science publishing’s major players. Sarkar gained attention in 2014 when he sued anonymous commenters of PubPeer for defamation, and … Continue reading Meet the researcher with 13 retractions who’s trying to sue PubPeer commenters: Fazlul Sarkar

Journal flags two papers by prominent diabetes researcher, more questioned on PubPeer

Diabetes has issued two expressions of concern (EOCs) for papers co-authored by leading diabetes researcher Kathrin Maedler, adding to her previous count of one retraction and three corrections. Both papers were questioned on PubPeer, alongside several others co-authored by Maedler, who is based at the University of Bremen in Germany. As we previously reported, PubPeer comments have … Continue reading Journal flags two papers by prominent diabetes researcher, more questioned on PubPeer

Botanist pair’s paper retracted, others questioned on PubPeer

A plant sciences journal has pulled a 2016 paper for manipulated images after the study came under question at PubPeer. According to the notice, the authors claim that the images were supplied by a “service provider;” the editor-in-chief of the journal told us he doesn’t have any details on this third party’s identity. The first … Continue reading Botanist pair’s paper retracted, others questioned on PubPeer

Diabetes researcher logged 1 retraction, 3 correx, after PubPeer comments

A journal has retracted a paper by a leading diabetes researcher — who has also issued three corrections — after questions about her research were raised on PubPeer. Kathrin Maedler — who works at the University of Bremen in Germany — corrected another paper in 2014. All of the notices are dated from 2015, and all describe issues with … Continue reading Diabetes researcher logged 1 retraction, 3 correx, after PubPeer comments

Seventh retraction appears for cancer researcher who sued PubPeer commenters

Fazlul Sarkar, who sued PubPeer commenters for criticizing his work, has logged two more retractions, bringing his total to seven. The two retractions appear in the Journal of Cellular Physiology, and follow five others released last week by another Wiley journal, Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. All notices mention an investigation at Wayne State University, where Sarkar … Continue reading Seventh retraction appears for cancer researcher who sued PubPeer commenters

Researcher suing PubPeer commenters earns 5 retractions following investigation

An investigation at Wayne State University has prompted five retractions for a scientist who is suing PubPeer commenters after they criticized his work on the site. The investigation into Fazlul Sarkar and his co-authors found that the papers contain images that were “inappropriately manipulated” or “inappropriately re-used and re-labeled.” All five retraction notices are from the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. … Continue reading Researcher suing PubPeer commenters earns 5 retractions following investigation

Prompted by PubPeer, biologist corrects three papers

A biologist has corrected three papers that are nearly a decade old, after concerns were raised on PubPeer. A commenter first posted a comment about an image in one of the papers in 2013; after more comments on other papers appeared in November 2015, author Zoya Avramova at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln received emails alerting her to … Continue reading Prompted by PubPeer, biologist corrects three papers

Stem cell researchers fix two papers following PubPeer comments

A pair of stem cell researchers have earned two corrections, the result of images that were mislabeled, distorted, or compiled incorrectly, according to the notices. Kang Cheng prepared the gels when he was a research fellow in last author Sanjeev Gupta‘s lab at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Gupta told us he reviewed the original gels, and the errors didn’t affect the … Continue reading Stem cell researchers fix two papers following PubPeer comments