Search Results for: doing the right thing

NEJM: No plan to clarify wording that led to allegations of breached confidentiality

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has no plans to change the wording of an article that led to allegations of breached patient confidentiality and caused a minor social media firestorm this past weekend, the journal told Retraction Watch. The paragraph in question appeared in an essay by Lisa Rosenbaum chronicling the history of power … Continue reading NEJM: No plan to clarify wording that led to allegations of breached confidentiality

What did retractions look like in the 17th century?

We always like to get a historical perspective on how scientists have tried to correct the record, such as this attempt in 1756 to retract a published opinion about some of the work of Benjamin Franklin. Although that 18th century note used the word “retract,” it wasn’t a retraction like what we see today, in … Continue reading What did retractions look like in the 17th century?

Ready to geek out on retraction data? Read this new preprint

There’s a new paper about retractions, and it’s chock-full of the kind of data that we love to geek out on. Enjoy. The new paper, “A Multi-dimensional Investigation of the Effects of Publication Retraction on Scholarly Impact,” appears on the preprint server arXiv — meaning it has yet to be peer-reviewed — and is co-authored … Continue reading Ready to geek out on retraction data? Read this new preprint

Let’s not mischaracterize replication studies: authors

Scientists have been abuzz over a report in last week’s Science questioning the results of a recent landmark effort to replicate 100 published studies in top psychology journals. The critique of this effort – which suggested the authors couldn’t replicate most of the research because they didn’t adhere closely enough to the original studies – … Continue reading Let’s not mischaracterize replication studies: authors

PLOS ONE retracting paper that cites “the Creator”

PLOS ONE has retracted a paper published one month ago after readers began criticizing it for mentioning “the Creator.” The article “Biomechanical Characteristics of Hand Coordination in Grasping Activities of Daily Living” now includes a reader comment from PLOS Staff, noting:

More than half of top-tier economics papers are replicable, study finds

Approximately six out of 10 economics studies published in the field’s most reputable journals — American Economic Review and the Quarterly Journal of Economics — are replicable, according to a study published today in Science. The authors repeated the results of 18 papers published between 2011 and 2014 and found 11 — approximately 61% — … Continue reading More than half of top-tier economics papers are replicable, study finds

Weekend reads: Prof charged with $8 million research fraud; war on bullshit science; more Macchiarini fallout

This week at Retraction Watch featured seven retractions in a long-running case involving cancer research, as well as the retraction of a paper claiming a link between a vaccine and behavioral issues. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Top journals give mixed response to learning published trials didn’t proceed as planned

Ben Goldacre has been a busy man. In the last six weeks, the author and medical doctor’s Compare Project has evaluated 67 clinical trials published in the top five medical journals, looking for any “switched outcomes,” meaning the authors didn’t report something they said they would, or included additional outcomes in the published paper, with … Continue reading Top journals give mixed response to learning published trials didn’t proceed as planned

Psychologist Jens Förster earns second and third retractions as part of settlement

High-profile social psychologist Jens Förster has earned two retractions following an investigation by his former workplace. He agreed to the retractions as part of a settlement with the German Society for Psychology (DGPs). The papers are two of eight that were found to contain “strong statistical evidence for low veracity.” According to the report from an expert panel convened at … Continue reading Psychologist Jens Förster earns second and third retractions as part of settlement

After 10 years, a whistleblower is vindicated. Here’s why he kept going.

Stefan Franzen doesn’t give up. Ten years ago, he began to suspect the data behind his colleagues’ research about using RNA to make palladium nanoparticles, a potentially valuable tool that ended up as a Science paper. Recently, the National Science Foundation (NSF) decided to cut off funding for Bruce Eaton and Dan Feldheim — currently at the University of … Continue reading After 10 years, a whistleblower is vindicated. Here’s why he kept going.