Search Results for: compromised peer review

A new record: Major publisher retracting more than 100 studies from cancer journal over fake peer reviews

Springer is retracting 107 papers from one journal after discovering they had been accepted with fake peer reviews. Yes, 107. To submit a fake review, someone (often the author of a paper) either makes up an outside expert to review the paper, or suggests a real researcher — and in both cases, provides a fake … Continue reading A new record: Major publisher retracting more than 100 studies from cancer journal over fake peer reviews

Researcher denies faking reviews for 5 newly retracted papers

Journals have retracted five papers by a materials researcher based in Poland after concluding the peer-review process had been faked.  According to the retraction notices — which all appear in Elsevier journals and contain the same text — the papers were accepted due to “positive advice of at least one faked reviewer report,” which were submitted … Continue reading Researcher denies faking reviews for 5 newly retracted papers

Medical journal retracts study over fake review, authorship concerns

A journal has retracted a 2015 study about lung cancer after learning the peer-review process had been compromised. The paper was published in March, 2015 — the same month publisher BioMed Central (BMC) pulled 43 papers for fake reviews. According to the retraction notice in the European Journal of Medical Research, the authors’ institution in China … Continue reading Medical journal retracts study over fake review, authorship concerns

Springer, BMC retracting nearly 60 papers for fake reviews and other issues

In a massive cleanup, Springer and BioMed Central announced today they are retracting 58 papers for several reasons, including manipulation of the peer-review process and inappropriately allocating authorship. The papers appeared in seven journals, and more are under investigation. In a release issued today, the publishers note:

Peer review manipulation fells another study

A spectroscopy journal has retracted a 2016 study after concluding that its editors had been misled by a fake review. According to the retraction notice, the journal — Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy — accepted the paper due to positive feedback from someone assuming the identity of an expert reviewer, using an … Continue reading Peer review manipulation fells another study

Three more papers felled by suspected fake reviews

So far, we’ve counted more than 300 papers that have been retracted after editors suspected the peer-review process had been compromised — and we’re adding three more to the list. Editors of the Journal of Food Processing and Preservation became suspicious of the three papers after discovering similarities in reports from supposedly different reviewers. When they were unable … Continue reading Three more papers felled by suspected fake reviews

Editors say they missed “fairly obvious clues” of third party tampering, publish fake peer reviews

The editors of a journal that recently retracted a paper after the peer-review process was “compromised” have published the fake reviews, along with additional details about the case. In the editorial titled “Organised crime against the academic peer review system,” Adam Cohen and other editors at the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology say they missed “several fairly obvious … Continue reading Editors say they missed “fairly obvious clues” of third party tampering, publish fake peer reviews

Imposter edits journal in latest peer review scam

When a computer scientist approached a journal about editing a special issue, little did the journal know he — or she — was using a stolen identity. Before the jig was up, someone posing as a researcher named Xavier Delorme had edited three articles on optimization problems for The Scientific World Journal. The scammer used a fake email address, … Continue reading Imposter edits journal in latest peer review scam

Seven papers flagged earlier for fake reviews now retracted by Elsevier

Elsevier has now retracted the seven papers it flagged in October as being affected by fake peer reviews. If you’re not keeping track, we are: We have logged a total of about 300 retractions for fake peer review, in which some aspect of the peer-review process becomes compromised — for instance, in the case of the … Continue reading Seven papers flagged earlier for fake reviews now retracted by Elsevier

Author in 2014 peer review ring loses 3 more papers for peer review problems

A journal is retracting three papers — including one that is highly cited — after learning the reviewers that recommended publication had conflicts of interest. This is a case of family values gone awry: The author common to all papers is Cheng-Wu Chen at the National Kaohsiung Marine University in Taiwan, the twin brother of one … Continue reading Author in 2014 peer review ring loses 3 more papers for peer review problems