Here’s another installment of PubPeer Selections: Continue reading PubPeer Selections: PubPeer comments lead to Science correction; crystal structure in triplicate
Ripping off someone else’s thesis sinks paper on chicken temperatures
Proof that people will plagiarize anything they think they can get away with: a Brazilian scientist plagiarized a masters’ student’s thesis on the surface temperature of chickens.
We spoke with International Journal of Biometeorology editor-in-chief Scott Sheridan about the case: Continue reading Ripping off someone else’s thesis sinks paper on chicken temperatures
How meta: Paper on errors retracted for “too many stupid mistakes”
A paper published in Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science has been retracted for statistical and typographical mistakes.
Here’s the notice for “Comparing Measurement Error Between Two Different Methods of Measurement of Various Magnitudes”: Continue reading How meta: Paper on errors retracted for “too many stupid mistakes”
Asthma study yanked for serious ethical violations
A paper in SpringerPlus on treating asthma with antioxidants was retracted on September 25 for something of a trifecta of ethical problems.
The retraction notice indicates that the patients never consented, there was no ethical review, and the university supposedly overseeing the study had no knowledge of it:
Continue reading Asthma study yanked for serious ethical violations
European Science Foundation demands retraction of criticism in Nature, threatens legal action
The European Science Foundation (ESF) has threatened legal action against a scientist for calling an evaluation process supported by the agency “flawed” in a commentary piece in Nature.
Amaya Moro-Martin, an assistant astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and an associate research scientist at The Johns Hopkins University, apparently angered the ESF with the bolded phrase below: Continue reading European Science Foundation demands retraction of criticism in Nature, threatens legal action
Weekend reads: Senator loses degree for plagiarism; bad colitis poetry; fraud on the big screen
The week at Retraction Watch featured papers by a fake author with a brilliant if profane name, and the unmasking of fraudster Diederik Stapel as a sock puppet. Here’s what was happening elsewhere: Continue reading Weekend reads: Senator loses degree for plagiarism; bad colitis poetry; fraud on the big screen
After 16 retractions, management professor Lichtenthaler resigns post
Ulrich Lichtenthaler, a management professor at the University of Mannheim who has had to retract 16 papers for data irregularities, has resigned his faculty position.
According to a terse release from the university (translated from German): Continue reading After 16 retractions, management professor Lichtenthaler resigns post
Cell line switch sinks PLoS ONE cancer paper
We’ve written before about how common cell line mix ups are in cancer research; according to a 2012 Wall Street Journal article (paywalled), between a fifth and a third of cancer cell lines tested by suspicious researchers turned out to be misidentified.
Obviously, mistakenly studying the wrong kind of cancer is a waste of precious resources, both time and money. And it’s clear the problem hasn’t gone away. PLoS ONE just retracted a cancer paper originally published in December 2012 for studying two cell lines that had been contaminated by other cell types.
Here’s the notice for “Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition Is Required for Acquisition of Anoikis Resistance and Metastatic Potential in Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma”:
Continue reading Cell line switch sinks PLoS ONE cancer paper
Yet another study of widely touted cancer “cure” retracted
A third study of GcMAF, a protein being used to treat a variety of conditions from AIDS to autism to cancer, all without the blessing of health agencies, has been retracted.
Here’s the notice in Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy for “Immunotherapy of metastatic colorectal cancer with vitamin D-binding protein-derived macrophage-activating factor, GcMAF:” Continue reading Yet another study of widely touted cancer “cure” retracted
Should papers be retracted if one of the authors is a total asshole?
When science writer Vito Tartamella noticed a physics paper co-authored by Stronzo Bestiale (which means “total asshole” in Italian) he did what anyone who’s written a book on surnames would do: He looked it up in the phonebook.
What he found was a lot more complicated than a funny name.
It turns out Stronzo Bestiale doesn’t exist.
Continue reading Should papers be retracted if one of the authors is a total asshole?