Weekend reads: Are papers retracted often enough?; ‘What makes an undercover science sleuth tick?’; journals dominate prestige rankings

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: UCLA veteran researcher faked data in 11 grant applications, per Feds More than a year ago, an editor agreed a paper should be retracted. It hasn’t been. Doctor faces apparent retaliation after alleging data manipulation … Continue reading Weekend reads: Are papers retracted often enough?; ‘What makes an undercover science sleuth tick?’; journals dominate prestige rankings

Doctor faces apparent retaliation after alleging data manipulation in published trial

A rheumatologist was suspended from a professional society and his license to practice medicine was threatened after he raised concerns about data manipulation in a published study for which he recruited patients, according to documents seen by Retraction Watch.  The study, “Added Value of Anti-CD74 Autoantibodies in Axial SpondyloArthritis in a Population With Low HLA-B27 … Continue reading Doctor faces apparent retaliation after alleging data manipulation in published trial

Leading primate researcher admits to faking data in NIH grant applications, paper

The director of the Southwest National Primate Research Center at Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio faked data 10 different times in federal grant applications and a now-retracted paper, according to the U.S. Office of Research Integrity. The Texas primate center has garnered some attention during the pandemic for taking part in tests of … Continue reading Leading primate researcher admits to faking data in NIH grant applications, paper

Weekend reads: Harvard sued over retracted paper; ‘retraction with honor’; critiquing our fake peer review coverage

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Papers in Scientific Reports – and their expressions of concern – raise questions 250th COVID-19 retraction is for faked ethics approval Papers in Croce case with “blatantly obvious” problems still aren’t retracted after misconduct investigation: … Continue reading Weekend reads: Harvard sued over retracted paper; ‘retraction with honor’; critiquing our fake peer review coverage

250th COVID-19 retraction is for faked ethics approval

Researchers in Iran have lost a paper on Covid-19 infection in a two-month-old boy after the journal learned that they’d fabricated ethics approval for the article.  It’s the 250th Covid-19 retraction by our count. “Coronavirus disease 2019 in a 2-month-old male infant: a case report from Iran” appeared in December 2020 in Clinical and Experimental … Continue reading 250th COVID-19 retraction is for faked ethics approval

Papers in Scientific Reports – and their expressions of concern – raise questions

Has Springer Nature’s Scientific Reports been targeted with an authorship for sale scheme? At least one expert in such matters thinks so.  The journal has issued two recent expressions of concern for papers by researchers from Indonesia, Iran and Russia with highly unusual – and oddly similar – constellations of authors.  One 2021 article, “Numerical … Continue reading Papers in Scientific Reports – and their expressions of concern – raise questions

Weekend reads: How to fix peer review; a research ethics oath; papers become less readable

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Author objects to “irrelevant reviewers” as journal retracts four papers Meet the hijacked journal that keeps rising from the ashes Engineering researcher who cast blame on co-author will soon have 12 retractions Lawsuit prompts retraction … Continue reading Weekend reads: How to fix peer review; a research ethics oath; papers become less readable

Weekend reads: Retracted papers that keep getting cited; ivermectin retractions; publishing peer reviews

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Japanese university recommends five retractions after investigating botany researcher ‘Our deepest apology’: Journal retracts 30 likely paper mill articles after investigation published by Retraction Watch Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to … Continue reading Weekend reads: Retracted papers that keep getting cited; ivermectin retractions; publishing peer reviews

Weekend reads: Retracted COVID-19 papers keep being cited; “‘difficult’ name penalty”; economist accused of plagiarism

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: The Lancet more than doubles its impact factor, eclipsing NEJM for the first time ever Author demands a refund after his paper is retracted for plagiarism Seven months after an author request, journal retracts February: … Continue reading Weekend reads: Retracted COVID-19 papers keep being cited; “‘difficult’ name penalty”; economist accused of plagiarism

February: ‘we don’t agree there is an issue here.’ June: Retracted.

A Springer Nature journal has retracted a paper on hepatitis C infection it had previously corrected for problematic data – but in between the editors declared the case closed. The paper, “The interaction between microRNA-152 and DNA methyltransferase-1 as an epigenetic prognostic biomarker in HCV-induced liver cirrhosis and HCC patients,” was published in July 2019 … Continue reading February: ‘we don’t agree there is an issue here.’ June: Retracted.