The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has retracted a highly influential 2012 paper by Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke University whose work has been called into question over concerns about the data in some of his publications. The retraction wasn’t unexpected. Ariely and his colleagues said last month that they … Continue reading Highly criticized paper on dishonesty retracted
A former veterinary student at Tufts University has settled a $1 million lawsuit alleging that she was punished for claiming that her mentor at the school falsified data in a 2014 article. In 2019, Kristy Meadows sued Tufts and two faculty members, Elizabeth Byrnes and Dean Joyce Knoll, whom she said retaliated against her for … Continue reading Former Tufts grad student settles lawsuit alleging retaliation for whistleblowing
The publisher SAGE is in the process of retracting more than 30 papers across three of its journals after determining that they were churned out by paper mills — prompting the company to take a closer look at its policies and procedures. The suspect papers were initially flagged by Elisabeth Bik and others as part … Continue reading Publisher retracting more than 30 articles from paper mills
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
A law firm known for filing shareholder suits says that data supporting a drug company’s plan for trials of its experimental treatment for Alzheimer’s disease show evidence of manipulation. Stock in the company, Cassava Biosciences, tumbled yesterday after the FDA posted material from the firm, Labaton Sucharow, and a top research integrity expert tells Retraction … Continue reading Biotech’s data supporting Alzheimer’s trials under scrutiny
A group of researchers in Canada who’d collaborated with a one-time rising star in the bone field have retracted a 2014 article after determining that the data were unreliable. They did so even though the paper was not a focus of the investigations into the work of Abida Sophina “Sophie” Jamal, whose once sparkling career … Continue reading Doing the right thing: Co-authors of researcher who covered up data fakery retract paper
If you need a reminder of how slowly the wheels of justice grind, here’s one. Earlier this month, Sam W. Lee agreed to pay the U.S. government $215,000 to settle allegations that the former Harvard researcher had made false claims in a grant application. It turns out that at least one skeptical researcher had notified … Continue reading The decade-long saga capped by a $215,000 settlement with the US government
A World Health Organization (WHO) database of papers about COVID-19 contains hundreds of articles published in hijacked journals whose publishers have stolen titles and legitimacy from the original publications. That’s what I found when I analyzed the WHO’s “COVID-19 Global literature on coronavirus disease,” which as of August 1 included more than 318,000 papers sourced … Continue reading WHO COVID-19 library contains hundreds of papers from hijacked journals
A former Harvard researcher has agreed to pay $215,000 to settle allegations that he used bogus data in a grant application to the National Institutes of Health — and the teaching hospital where he worked has already repaid more than $900,000 in grant funds. The settlement, of which we were just made aware, was announced … Continue reading False claims allegations cost Mass General, former Harvard researcher more than $1 million
A pair of authors have lost a 2020 paper claiming to link children’s vaccines to health and behavior problems after the journal concluded the data didn’t support the conclusions of the study. The authors of the paper, “Relative Incidence of Office Visits and Cumulative Rates of Billed Diagnoses along the Axis of Vaccination,” were James … Continue reading Authors blame a “ghoul” for retraction of paper claiming vaccines lead to health and behavioral issues