Search Results for: nature

Journal sends cease-and-desist letter to a company marketing a homeopathic alternative to opioids

Stephen Barrett, a U.S. physician and founder of Quackwatch, makes a point of calling out homeopathy and other health products and practices that lack evidence.  In that vein, earlier this year he emailed the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery to critique a 2019 article by Walter Tatch titled “Opioid Prescribing Can Be Reduced in … Continue reading Journal sends cease-and-desist letter to a company marketing a homeopathic alternative to opioids

Weekend reads: Fake reproductive health data alleged; ‘bad brains;’ ‘heinous’ misconduct

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Physics publisher retracting nearly 500 likely paper mill papers Exclusive: NIH researcher resigned amid retractions, including Nature paper Didier Raoult papers earn expressions of concern as criminal investigation gets underway Brain tumor researchers retract paper … Continue reading Weekend reads: Fake reproductive health data alleged; ‘bad brains;’ ‘heinous’ misconduct

Brain tumor researchers retract paper from Science journal

A brain tumor researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, has retracted a paper from Science Translational Medicine, and is a co-author on an article that another journal is examining.  The problems in both papers, and several others with shared authors, came to light via comments on PubPeer by Elisabeth Bik and a pseudonymous … Continue reading Brain tumor researchers retract paper from Science journal

Weekend reads: A tale of deception; hydroxychloroquine in Australia; AI and ML to fix your papers — or write them

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: An editor on why he ignores anonymous whistleblowers – and why authors are free to publish ‘bullshit and fiction’ In four years, a psychosocial counselor co-authored seven papers on disparate medical topics. How? When an … Continue reading Weekend reads: A tale of deception; hydroxychloroquine in Australia; AI and ML to fix your papers — or write them

Former NCI postdoc faked data, says federal watchdog

A former postdoc at the National Cancer Institute faked 15 figures and a movie in grant applications, presentations, a paper, and an unpublished manuscript, according to a federal watchdog. The finding from the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI) comes more than a year after PLOS Biology retracted a 2016 paper and noted that the … Continue reading Former NCI postdoc faked data, says federal watchdog

Veterinary researcher banned from journal after fourth forthcoming retraction

A veterinary researcher with three retracted papers and one marked with an expression of concern has another retraction on the way, Retraction Watch has learned.  The first retraction for Tereza Cristina Cardoso da Silva, of the University of São Paulo State in Brazil, came in 2019. As we reported at the time, the retracted paper, … Continue reading Veterinary researcher banned from journal after fourth forthcoming retraction

In four years, a psychosocial counselor co-authored seven papers on disparate medical topics. How? 

At the end of July, Muttukrishna Sarvananthan noticed something curious in the publications of Chulani Herath, a senior lecturer at the Open University of Sri Lanka in Nawala. Herath is listed as a middle author on seven papers about various topics in medicine, including heart disease, stroke, and burnout among general practitioners in China.  That … Continue reading In four years, a psychosocial counselor co-authored seven papers on disparate medical topics. How? 

Penn maintains wall of silence over now-retired prof as retractions mount

A Springer Nature journal has retracted a 2017 paper on induced brain injuries in piglets over questions about the data – making us wonder if the animals weren’t essentially tortured (if the experiments truly took place) as part of someone’s misconduct.   Meanwhile, Springer Nature seems to have wiped its hands clean of the matter involving … Continue reading Penn maintains wall of silence over now-retired prof as retractions mount

On second thought: journal reverses course on paper it agreed to retract last year

A Springer Nature journal has decided not to retract a paper it had been investigating for plagiarism since receiving allegations in January 2021. The decision came 1.5 years since the editor-in-chief apparently agreed the paper should be retracted, and just a few days after we reported on the case.  Systems engineer Paola Di Maio notified … Continue reading On second thought: journal reverses course on paper it agreed to retract last year

‘It’s time to devise a more efficient solution’: Science editor in chief wants to change the retraction process

On the heels of a high-profile retraction that followed deep investigations by the Science news team, Holden Thorp, the editor in chief of the journal, says it’s time to improve the process of correcting the scientific record. In an editorial published today, Thorp, a former university provost, describes the often time-consuming and frustrating process involving … Continue reading ‘It’s time to devise a more efficient solution’: Science editor in chief wants to change the retraction process