Weekend reads: Underage sex comic study removed following outrage; postdoc claims retaliation; plagiarism in COVID-19 papers

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Company’s Alzheimer’s treatment study earns a flag ‘A significant departure’: Former Kentucky researcher faked 28 figures in grant applications and papers, say Feds Science retracts coral reef recovery paper more than a year after a … Continue reading Weekend reads: Underage sex comic study removed following outrage; postdoc claims retaliation; plagiarism in COVID-19 papers

Science retracts coral reef recovery paper more than a year after a report on allegations in its own pages

Fifteen months after its news division published an investigation into work on coral reef recovery, Science has retracted a 2014 paper on the subject. The article, “Chemically mediated behavior of recruiting corals and fishes: A tipping point that may limit reef recovery,” was written by a group at Georgia Institute of Technology led by Danielle … Continue reading Science retracts coral reef recovery paper more than a year after a report on allegations in its own pages

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

More than a year ago, an editor agreed a paper should be retracted. It hasn’t been.

Eighteen months after the editor in chief of a Springer Nature journal received allegations of plagiarism – and more than a year after the editor apparently decided to retract it – the article remains intact and the journal’s investigation has not yet concluded.  The paper, “Robotic Standard Development Life Cycle in Action,” was published in … Continue reading More than a year ago, an editor agreed a paper should be retracted. It hasn’t been.

Happy 12th birthday, Retraction Watch: And what a year it was

Every year in the days leading up to August 3 – our birthday – we find some time to review where we’ve been and where we’re going. We often start with the very first post we published on August 3, 2010.  That post begins with a mention of Anil Potti – remember him? – and … Continue reading Happy 12th birthday, Retraction Watch: And what a year it was

Weekend reads: 50 years after Tuskegee; ‘Is psychological science self-correcting?’; ‘The peer review system is broken’

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: An editor invited me to submit a commentary, then he rejected it – and named and blamed me in an editorial University of Fukui professor called out for fake peer review, loses “love hormone” paper … Continue reading Weekend reads: 50 years after Tuskegee; ‘Is psychological science self-correcting?’; ‘The peer review system is broken’

University of Fukui professor called out for fake peer review, loses “love hormone” paper

A researcher in Japan appears to have written laudatory comments about her articles that a colleague passed off as his own during peer review. This may have happened for as many as five papers, two of which have been retracted. Akemi Tomoda, of the Child Development Research Center at the University of Fukui, collaborated with … Continue reading University of Fukui professor called out for fake peer review, loses “love hormone” paper

Crystallography database flags nearly 1000 structures linked to a paper mill

A chemistry database of crystal structures has marked nearly 1000 entries with expressions of concern after finding they were linked to articles identified as products of a paper mill.  The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) added notes to 992 structures in its database, according to a notice posted to its website in May. And a crystallography … Continue reading Crystallography database flags nearly 1000 structures linked to a paper mill

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

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