A closer look at the ‘chocolate with high cocoa content’ hoax

We are pleased to present an excerpt from The Predatory Paradox: Ethics, Politics, and Practices in Contemporary Scholarly Publishing by Amy Koerber, Jesse C. Starkey, Karin Ardon-Dryer, R. Glenn Cummins, Lyombe Eko, and Kerk F. Kee, published by Open Book Publishers, October 2023.  In 2015, Johannes Bohannon, along with three coauthors, published an article titled … Continue reading A closer look at the ‘chocolate with high cocoa content’ hoax

Exclusive: Editor caught plagiarizing resigns as more concerns emerge

A radiology professor in France who plagiarized others’ work in a review article has resigned from his role as deputy editor of a medical journal amid new concerns about his publications, Retraction Watch has learned. The professor, Romaric Loffroy of CHU Dijon Bourgogne, was first and corresponding author of the offending review, which included large … Continue reading Exclusive: Editor caught plagiarizing resigns as more concerns emerge

Weekend reads: ‘Egregious misconduct’ by biotech collaborator; an IVF doctor with allegedly fake credentials; ChatGPT not the problem in publishing

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to well over 350. There are more than 43,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains well over … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Egregious misconduct’ by biotech collaborator; an IVF doctor with allegedly fake credentials; ChatGPT not the problem in publishing

Weekend reads: The strain on publishing; Gino defends herself; the rise of fake peer review retractions

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to well over 350. There are more than 43,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains well over … Continue reading Weekend reads: The strain on publishing; Gino defends herself; the rise of fake peer review retractions

After resigning en masse, math journal editors launch new publication

The editor in chief, managing editors, and entire editorial board of a mathematics journal all resigned earlier this year following a dispute with their publisher over special issues and article volume.  Changes the publisher wanted to make to the journal “would have the effect of jeopardizing scientific integrity for the sake of financial gain,” the … Continue reading After resigning en masse, math journal editors launch new publication

Weekend reads: Who should pay for sleuthing?; the Gino retraction requests; university ‘halts projects over fraud investigation’

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to well over 350. There are now nearly 43,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains 200 titles. … Continue reading Weekend reads: Who should pay for sleuthing?; the Gino retraction requests; university ‘halts projects over fraud investigation’

Withdrawn AI-written preprint on millipedes resurfaces, causing alarm

A preprint about millipedes that was written using OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT is back online after being withdrawn for including made-up references, Retraction Watch has learned.  The paper, fake references and all, is also under review by a journal specializing in tropical insects. “This undermines trust in the scientific literature,” said Henrik Enghoff, a millipede researcher … Continue reading Withdrawn AI-written preprint on millipedes resurfaces, causing alarm

Weekend reads: When scholars sue; why university rankings reward bad science; AI making its way into publishing

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to more than 350. There are now 42,000 retractions in our database — which powers retraction alerts in Edifix, EndNote, LibKey, Papers, and Zotero. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains 200 titles. And have you … Continue reading Weekend reads: When scholars sue; why university rankings reward bad science; AI making its way into publishing

Publisher blacklists authors after preprint cites made-up studies

Last month, a millipede expert in Denmark received an email notifying him that one of his publications had been mentioned in a new manuscript on Preprints.org. But when the researcher, Henrik Enghoff, downloaded the paper, he learned that it cited his work for something off-topic. Stranger still, the authors of the now-withdrawn preprint, a group … Continue reading Publisher blacklists authors after preprint cites made-up studies