Search Results for: doing the right thing

8 things you might not know about research misconduct proceedings: Guest post

Have you ever wondered what could happen if you’re accused of misconduct and face official proceedings? We are pleased to present a guest post from Callan Stein, a lawyer who represents U.S. researchers in misconduct cases, who describes some nuances many may not realize about these situations.  Most researchers know that being accused of research … Continue reading 8 things you might not know about research misconduct proceedings: Guest post

“If you think it’s rude to ask to look at your co-authors’ data, you’re not doing science”: Guest post

Last month, the community was shaken when a major study on gay marriage in Science was retracted following questions on its funding, data, and methodology. The senior author, Donald Green, made it clear he was not privy to many details of the paper — which raised some questions for C. K. Gunsalus, director of the National … Continue reading “If you think it’s rude to ask to look at your co-authors’ data, you’re not doing science”: Guest post

Panel says BMJ was right to not retract two disputed statin papers

A panel reviewing The BMJ‘s handling of two controversial statin papers said the journal didn’t err when it corrected, rather than retracted, the articles. The articles — a research paper and a commentary — suggested that use of statins in people at low risk for cardiovascular disease could be doing far more harm than good. Both … Continue reading Panel says BMJ was right to not retract two disputed statin papers

Retraction Watch, WordPress parent company file suit to fight false copyright claims, censorship

Retraction Watch readers may recall that earlier this year, ten of our posts disappeared for two weeks after someone at an alleged news service in India falsely claimed that we had violated their copyright. The situation was the opposite of those claims; in fact our copyright had been violated, and the posts, all about Anil … Continue reading Retraction Watch, WordPress parent company file suit to fight false copyright claims, censorship

Pamela Ronald does the right thing again, retracting a Science paper

About a month ago, we reported on a retraction by Pamela Ronald, of the University of California, Davis, and colleagues. We noted then that this was a case of scientists doing the right thing. Ronald contacted us after that post ran, and let us know that there would be another retraction shortly. That retraction notice … Continue reading Pamela Ronald does the right thing again, retracting a Science paper

It’s an epidemic! Another group does the right thing, retracting neuroscience paper

As the bumper sticker says, “Regime change starts at home.” Seems to be the case with scientists these days. This month we have seen commendable instances of researchers retracting papers after identifying flaws in their own data — an outbreak of integrity that has us here at Retraction Watch applauding. (We’ve even created a new … Continue reading It’s an epidemic! Another group does the right thing, retracting neuroscience paper

Does focusing on wrongdoing in research feed mistrust of science?

There have been a number of thoughtful stories and opinion pieces on scientific fraud recently. There was Brian Deer in the Sunday Times of London last month. Paul Jump, at the Times Higher Education, later that month looked at the lessons of one particular case. Alok Jha, of the Guardian, took on the issue last … Continue reading Does focusing on wrongdoing in research feed mistrust of science?

Not for the faint of heart: Cardiologists retract syncope paper after realizing data columns weren’t aligned right

Improperly aligned columns have cost researchers at the Mayo Clinic a paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The paper originally concluded that fainting spells (syncope) give patients with high blood pressure in their lung arteries poor prognoses, an observation that turned out to be incorrect. The problem? The group merged two electronic … Continue reading Not for the faint of heart: Cardiologists retract syncope paper after realizing data columns weren’t aligned right

Update on Journal of Neuroscience retractions: Authors being investigated. Plus, editor explains why notices say nothing

We have updates on the two mysterious Journal of Neuroscience retractions we reported on yesterday. One is that we have learned that there is a university investigation into the work of one of the teams that retracted one of the studies. More on that in a bit. Two, the journal’s editor, John Maunsell, responded to … Continue reading Update on Journal of Neuroscience retractions: Authors being investigated. Plus, editor explains why notices say nothing

Weekend reads: It’s not all publish or perish?; plagiarism hunters; controls on ‘gain of function’ research weaken

Before we present this week’s Weekend Reads, a question: Do you enjoy our weekly roundup? If so, we could really use your help. Would you consider a tax-deductible donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Readers puzzle over marketing journal’s failures to retract Doing the … Continue reading Weekend reads: It’s not all publish or perish?; plagiarism hunters; controls on ‘gain of function’ research weaken