Search Results for: medical

When a retraction notice leaves out important details: COVID-19, prisoners, and an IRB

Earlier this week, we reported on the retractions of two papers on Covid-19 in Texas inmates after the journal was told that the researchers did not have proper ethics approval for the studies.  According to the senior author on the articles, however, that’s nowhere near the whole story. Kenneth Nugent, of Texas Tech Physicians in … Continue reading When a retraction notice leaves out important details: COVID-19, prisoners, and an IRB

Two years: That’s how long it took a PLOS journal to flag a paper after a sleuth raised concerns

Two years after being alerted to a questionable figure in a 2016 paper by a group with a questionable publication history, a PLOS journal has issued an expression of concern about the article. The paper, “Deprivation of L-Arginine Induces Oxidative Stress Mediated Apoptosis in Leishmania donovani Promastigotes: Contribution of the Polyamine Pathway,” was published in  … Continue reading Two years: That’s how long it took a PLOS journal to flag a paper after a sleuth raised concerns

Paper from company claiming phototherapy could treat COVID-19 is retracted

A study that touted phototherapy as a way to combat the COVID-19 pandemic has been retracted after Elisabeth Bik noted a litany of concerns about the article, from duplications in the figures to the authors’ failure to disclose conflicts of interest.  The article, “Methylene blue photochemical treatment as a reliable SARS-CoV-2 plasma virus inactivation method … Continue reading Paper from company claiming phototherapy could treat COVID-19 is retracted

‘In hindsight the mistake was quite stupid’: Authors retract paper on stroke

File this under “doing the right thing:” A group of stroke researchers in Germany have retracted a paper they published earlier this year after finding an error in their work shortly after publication that doomed the findings.  Julian Klingbeil, of the Department of Neurology at the University of Leipzig Medical Center, and his colleagues had … Continue reading ‘In hindsight the mistake was quite stupid’: Authors retract paper on stroke

Elsevier says “integrity and rigor” of peer review for 400 papers fell “beneath the high standards expected”

Elsevier says it is reassessing its procedures for special issues after one of its journals issued expressions of concern for six such publications, involving as many as 400 articles, over worries that the peer review process was compromised.  The journal, Microprocessors & Microsystems, published the special issues using guest editors.   The EoCs vary slightly, but … Continue reading Elsevier says “integrity and rigor” of peer review for 400 papers fell “beneath the high standards expected”

Weekend reads: How many scientists commit misconduct?; science ‘moved beyond peer review during the pandemic’; Juul pays for entire journal issue

Before we present this week’s Weekend Reads, a question: Do you enjoy our weekly roundup? If so, we could really use your help. Would you consider a tax-deductible donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: ‘They seem to mean business’: Cardiology journal flags papers cited … Continue reading Weekend reads: How many scientists commit misconduct?; science ‘moved beyond peer review during the pandemic’; Juul pays for entire journal issue

University terminates affiliation with researcher who had paper on COVID-19 vaccines retracted as mask study comes under scrutiny

A researcher who co-authored a now-retracted paper claiming that two vaccinated people died of COVID-19 for every three deaths prevented has had an affiliation with a Polish university terminated. Yesterday, Poznan University tweeted about the researcher, Harald Walach: Today, it confirmed the move in a statement:

Publisher won’t retract most papers by chemist editor-in-chief who left university post under a cloud

The retractions appear to be trickling in for Thomas Webster, a once-prominent chemistry researcher who left his post at Northeastern University after nearly 70 of his papers were flagged on PubPeer for concerns about the data in the studies.  But while the publisher of a journal he co-founded — and left earlier this year — … Continue reading Publisher won’t retract most papers by chemist editor-in-chief who left university post under a cloud

Weekend reads: Fraud in gaming vs. fraud in science; ‘a scholarly screw-up of biblical proportions’; pregnant male rats

Before we present this week’s Weekend Reads, a question: Do you enjoy our weekly roundup? If so, we could really use your help. Would you consider a tax-deductible donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: ‘A fig leaf that doesn’t quite cover up’: Commission says … Continue reading Weekend reads: Fraud in gaming vs. fraud in science; ‘a scholarly screw-up of biblical proportions’; pregnant male rats

Journal retracts paper claiming two deaths from COVID-19 vaccination for every three prevented cases

Just days after adding an expression of concern to a paper published last week claiming that two people died from COVID-19 vaccinations for every three cases the vaccines prevented, the journal Vaccines has retracted the paper. [See an update on this post, with more fallout from this case.] As we have previously noted: