Search Results for: study 329

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

Urologist blames Big Pharma as concerns mount over his research

With retractions piling up and more than a dozen expressions of concern now added to the list of his publishing woes, a urologist in Iran claims his research is being targeted by American drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. Mohammad Reza Safarinejad, who offered no evidence for his allegations, says he retired from academia about 10 years … Continue reading Urologist blames Big Pharma as concerns mount over his research

Weekend reads: Should ‘peer reviewers be paid?’; Kim Kardashian and conflicts of interest; scandal costs millions in grants

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: COVID-19-vitamin D paper retracted by Springer Nature journal Study on reducing parents’ anxiety about children’s circumcision retracted More than 300 at once: Publisher retracts entire conference proceedings What we’ve learned from public records requests. … Continue reading Weekend reads: Should ‘peer reviewers be paid?’; Kim Kardashian and conflicts of interest; scandal costs millions in grants

Murder by Theory: Tales from the Ivory Tower’s Dark Side

Retraction Watch readers may recall Eve Armstrong’s April Fool’s preprints modeling a potential prom date and proving that it was, indeed, Colonel Mustard with a candlestick. We’re pleased — no fooling, and a few weeks early — to present an excerpt from Armstrong’s new work of fiction, Murder by Theory: Two Tales from the Ivory … Continue reading Murder by Theory: Tales from the Ivory Tower’s Dark Side

Weekend reads: Journals’ Russia bans; a chronic fatigue syndrome retraction; a Twitter retraction notice feature?

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Authors request retraction of study in Nature journal and look into four more papers Study on teen pot use goes up in smoke, then reappears UNC-Chapel Hill vice chancellor resigns post after admitting to … Continue reading Weekend reads: Journals’ Russia bans; a chronic fatigue syndrome retraction; a Twitter retraction notice feature?

Weekend reads: ‘Death threats, ghost researchers and sock puppets’; high levels of duplication in Russian science; DNA barcoding fraud?

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Paper used to support claims that ivermectin reduces COVID-19 hospitalizations is withdrawn by preprint server University president in Japan self-plagiarized and will forfeit some pay French ocean institute goes public about authors who forged … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Death threats, ghost researchers and sock puppets’; high levels of duplication in Russian science; DNA barcoding fraud?

Criticism engulfs paper claiming an asteroid destroyed Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah

Scientific Reports is taking heat on social media and from data sleuths for publishing a paper implying that the Biblical story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah might have been the retelling of the devastation wrought by an exploding asteroid in or around the year 1,650 BCE.  To the lay reader — and to … Continue reading Criticism engulfs paper claiming an asteroid destroyed Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah

Meet the alleged brain surgeon who squats on domains, punks journals and listed Wolf Blitzer as a co-author

We have a confession right up front: You won’t meet the man — a man who claims to be a brain surgeon, no less — we refer to in the headline.  That is because, dear reader, we were not able to contact the person who publishes under the name Michael George Zaki Ghali. What we … Continue reading Meet the alleged brain surgeon who squats on domains, punks journals and listed Wolf Blitzer as a co-author

Social psychology in the age of retraction

We’re pleased to present an excerpt from chapter 10, “The Replication Crisis,” of Augustine Brannigan’s The Use and Misuse of the Experimental Method in Social Psychology (Routledge 2021), with permission from the publisher. Contemporary social psychology has been seized over the past years by a loss of credibility and self-confidence associated with scientific fraud and … Continue reading Social psychology in the age of retraction