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

Weekend reads: Publication hijacking; questions about Sputnik vaccine; no more second round of review?

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: NYU postdoc with federal research misconduct settlement awarded NIH grant An Elsevier journal said it would retract 10 papers two years ago. It still hasn’t. UPenn prof with four retractions “may no longer be affiliated” … Continue reading Weekend reads: Publication hijacking; questions about Sputnik vaccine; no more second round of review?

Nanotech group up to nine retractions

A group of nanotechnology researchers in Iran is up to nine retractions after losing four papers in a go for problematic figures. The work was led by Abolfazl Akbarzadeh, a medicinal chemist at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, who has spent time as a visiting professor at Boston University and UCLA. Commenters on PubPeer including … Continue reading Nanotech group up to nine retractions

Weekend reads: Plagiarism in biblical scholarship; revelations about publishing ‘lab leak’ preprint; publishing sanctions on Russia

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Einstein fired researcher in 2019, more than two years before ORI finding Firing, publishing ban, 15 retractions for author who ‘defrauded’ co-authors in pay-to-publish scheme Five studies linked to Cassava Sciences retracted Doing the … Continue reading Weekend reads: Plagiarism in biblical scholarship; revelations about publishing ‘lab leak’ preprint; publishing sanctions on Russia

Weekend reads: False data in Columbia rankings?; data service accused of intimidating researchers; preprint server removes ‘inflammatory’ papers

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Study of cryotherapy for COVID-19 anosmia fails the sniff test Psych journal in revolt as it publishes paper saying masturbation and gay sex are harmful Award-winning Berkeley postdoc faked data, says federal watchdog Murder … Continue reading Weekend reads: False data in Columbia rankings?; data service accused of intimidating researchers; preprint server removes ‘inflammatory’ papers

Murder by Theory: Tales from the Ivory Tower’s Dark Side

Retraction Watch readers may recall Eve Armstrong’s April Fool’s preprints modeling a potential prom date and proving that it was, indeed, Colonel Mustard with a candlestick. We’re pleased — no fooling, and a few weeks early — to present an excerpt from Armstrong’s new work of fiction, Murder by Theory: Two Tales from the Ivory … Continue reading Murder by Theory: Tales from the Ivory Tower’s Dark Side

Weekend reads: Journals’ Russia bans; a chronic fatigue syndrome retraction; a Twitter retraction notice feature?

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Authors request retraction of study in Nature journal and look into four more papers Study on teen pot use goes up in smoke, then reappears UNC-Chapel Hill vice chancellor resigns post after admitting to … Continue reading Weekend reads: Journals’ Russia bans; a chronic fatigue syndrome retraction; a Twitter retraction notice feature?

Weekend reads: Weaponizing doubt; pharma’s lawsuit against journal dismissed; ‘misconstrued misinformation’

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Ivermectin papers slapped with expressions of concern More than 100 of an anesthesiologist’s papers retracted KCL investigation finds misconduct in Lancet Neurology paper Philadelphia-area lung researcher up to six retractions Biotech’s ‘cell squeezing’ technology … Continue reading Weekend reads: Weaponizing doubt; pharma’s lawsuit against journal dismissed; ‘misconstrued misinformation’

Weekend reads: ‘Death threats, ghost researchers and sock puppets’; high levels of duplication in Russian science; DNA barcoding fraud?

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Paper used to support claims that ivermectin reduces COVID-19 hospitalizations is withdrawn by preprint server University president in Japan self-plagiarized and will forfeit some pay French ocean institute goes public about authors who forged … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Death threats, ghost researchers and sock puppets’; high levels of duplication in Russian science; DNA barcoding fraud?

Exclusive: How a researcher faked data and gaslit a labmate for years

Sometime in early 2019, a postdoc in a veterinary microbiology lab at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman came to suspect that a research assistant in her lab was fabricating data. The postdoc had noticed that the research assistant’s experiments always produced positive results, while hers were always negative. And the experiments she performed with … Continue reading Exclusive: How a researcher faked data and gaslit a labmate for years