Search Results for: randomized

Weekend reads: Errors in clinical trials; GPT-3 and scientific papers; paleontologist accused of faking data

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to 278. There are more than 37,000 retractions in our database — which powers retraction alerts in EndNote, LibKey, Papers, and Zotero. And have you seen our leaderboard of authors with the most … Continue reading Weekend reads: Errors in clinical trials; GPT-3 and scientific papers; paleontologist accused of faking data

Pain researchers lose three papers after Cochrane group questioned data

A group of pain management researchers have had three of their papers retracted since September, after another group published a critique of their work earlier this year.  The critique, published in the journal Pain in April, found that ten studies led by physiatrist  Marco Monticone of the University of Cagliari in Italy may not be … Continue reading Pain researchers lose three papers after Cochrane group questioned data

How many ducks do you need to line up to get a publication retracted?

In July 2017, we notified the Journal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism (JBMM) of concerns about a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in rats which featured, among other problems, extensive duplication of data in a separate publication, large numbers of discrepancies in the methods and results between the publications, and serious concerns about the governance and … Continue reading How many ducks do you need to line up to get a publication retracted?

When editors confuse direct criticism with being impolite, science loses

In January 2022, motivated by our experience with eClinicalMedicine, we wrote about mishandling of published errors by journal editors. We had noticed that the methods used for the analysis of a cluster randomized trial published in the journal were invalid. Using a valid approach, we reanalyzed the raw data, which were shared with us by the … Continue reading When editors confuse direct criticism with being impolite, science loses

Weekend reads: Whistleblowers win a victory; a look at COVID-19 retractions; journals as sewage treatment plants

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Paper by gene therapy Zolgensma developer retracted because of discrepancies in mouse survival rates Med school vice dean says he’s correcting paper amid negative misconduct inquiry A grad student finds a ‘typo’ in a psychedelic … Continue reading Weekend reads: Whistleblowers win a victory; a look at COVID-19 retractions; journals as sewage treatment plants

Former Iranian government official up to two retractions, five corrections

A lung specialist who has held positions in Iran’s Ministry of Health and National Medical Council now has two retractions and five corrections of his published papers for re-using text.  In the case of the retractions, the re-used text was an entire paper.  Esmaeil Idani (who also spells his last name “Eidani”), now affiliated with … Continue reading Former Iranian government official up to two retractions, five corrections

How journal editors kept questionable data about women’s health out of the literature years before retractions

In July of 2017, Mohamed Rezk, of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Menoufia University in Egypt, submitted a manuscript to the journal Anesthesia with a colleague.  The manuscript, “Analgesic and antiemetic effect of Intraperitoneal magnesium sulfate in laparoscopic salpingectomy: a randomized controlled trial,” caught the attention of John Carlisle, an editor at the … Continue reading How journal editors kept questionable data about women’s health out of the literature years before retractions

Journal sends cease-and-desist letter to a company marketing a homeopathic alternative to opioids

Stephen Barrett, a U.S. physician and founder of Quackwatch, makes a point of calling out homeopathy and other health products and practices that lack evidence.  In that vein, earlier this year he emailed the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery to critique a 2019 article by Walter Tatch titled “Opioid Prescribing Can Be Reduced in … Continue reading Journal sends cease-and-desist letter to a company marketing a homeopathic alternative to opioids

Weekend reads: A tale of deception; hydroxychloroquine in Australia; AI and ML to fix your papers — or write them

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: An editor on why he ignores anonymous whistleblowers – and why authors are free to publish ‘bullshit and fiction’ In four years, a psychosocial counselor co-authored seven papers on disparate medical topics. How? When an … Continue reading Weekend reads: A tale of deception; hydroxychloroquine in Australia; AI and ML to fix your papers — or write them

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?