Can a tracking system for peer reviewers help stop fakes?

The problem of fake peer reviews never seems to end — although the research community has known about it since 2014, publishers are still discovering new cases. In April, one journal alone retracted 107 papers after discovering the review process had been compromised. By tracking individual reviewers’ contributions, Publons — recently purchased by Clarivate Analytics — … Continue reading Can a tracking system for peer reviewers help stop fakes?

Weekend reads: The editor who’s a dog; the fake author; a monument to peer review

The week at Retraction Watch featured the retraction of a much-discussed paper on using blockchain to prevent scientific misconduct, and a researcher who lost nine studies at once from a single journal. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

In more faked peer review news…10 papers pulled by Hindawi

Guess what? We’ve got more cases of fraudulent peer review to report — our second post of the day on the subject, in fact. In the latest news, Hindawi Publishing Corporation has retracted 10 papers for “fraudulent review reports,” after an investigation of more than 30 papers that had been flagged this summer. The investigation found … Continue reading In more faked peer review news…10 papers pulled by Hindawi

Weekend reads: How to publish in Nature; social media circumvents peer review; impatience leads to fakery

The week at Retraction Watch featured a look at why a fraudster’s papers continued to earn citations after he went to prison, and criticism of Science by hundreds of researchers. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

30+ papers flagged because editors may have “subverted the peer review process” with fake accounts

In what has become a familiar story, another publisher has found more than 30 papers that appear to have been accepted and published based on fake peer reviews. Hindawi, publisher of more than 400 journals, is having 32 papers re-reviewed after an investigation …identified three Editors who appear to have subverted the peer review process … Continue reading 30+ papers flagged because editors may have “subverted the peer review process” with fake accounts

Elsevier retracting 16 papers for faked peer review

Fake peer reviews: They’re all the rage. Sixteen papers are being retracted across three Elsevier journals after the publisher discovered that one of the authors, Khalid Zaman, orchestrated fake peer reviews by submitting false contact information for his suggested reviewers. This particular kind of scam has been haunting online peer review for a few years now, as loyal Retraction … Continue reading Elsevier retracting 16 papers for faked peer review

Retraction count grows to 35 for scientist who faked emails to do his own peer review

Hyung-In Moon, the South Korean plant compound researcher who made up email addresses so he could do his own peer review, is now up to 35 retractions. The four new retractions are of the papers in the Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry that initially led to suspicions when all the reviews came back … Continue reading Retraction count grows to 35 for scientist who faked emails to do his own peer review

Journal editor resigned in wake of retractions for fake email addresses that enabled self-peer review

The case of Hyung-In Moon — the researcher who faked email addresses for potential peer reviewers so he could do his own peer review — has already led to one resignation. Emilio Jirillo, the editor of Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology, which retracted 20 of Moon’s papers, stepped down earlier this year in the wake of the … Continue reading Journal editor resigned in wake of retractions for fake email addresses that enabled self-peer review

Author who squats on domains to fake affiliations and added Wolf Blitzer as a co-author up to a dozen retractions

A putative brain surgeon with a penchant for fabricating his affiliations and co-authors — including Wolf Blitzer of CNN — has lost several more papers to retraction. As we reported in August, Michael George Zaki Ghali, or someone using that name: bought two fake web domains for the Karolinska Institutet [KI] to make it look … Continue reading Author who squats on domains to fake affiliations and added Wolf Blitzer as a co-author up to a dozen retractions

Weekend reads: “Passing the professor,” documented; “tortured phrases;” a “catastrophic failure of peer review”

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: When authors stop responding to requests for data, a journal … Continue reading Weekend reads: “Passing the professor,” documented; “tortured phrases;” a “catastrophic failure of peer review”