Search Results for: nature

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”

Four years after anesthesiology society’s request, four articles remain unretracted

Three years ago, we wrote that the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists had in 2017 asked several journals to retract a total of nine papers by Yuhji Saitoh, formerly of Yachiyo Medical Center and Tokyo Women’s Medical University.  According to the society, Saitoh had committed ethics violations in 10 articles, three of which had already been … Continue reading Four years after anesthesiology society’s request, four articles remain unretracted

Weekend reads: Peer review during the pandemic; CEO out after doctored research; more on COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis

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: Company fires employee, ends cash for citation scheme following Retraction … Continue reading Weekend reads: Peer review during the pandemic; CEO out after doctored research; more on COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis

Scientist blames grad student for gibberish book chapter — a charge she calls ‘crazy’

The senior author of a book chapter in the 2020 volume that Springer Nature has retracted for plagiarism has blamed a former grad student from Cuba in the affair — a charge she dismisses as “crazy.”  The chapter was retracted nearly 10 months after readers pointed out passages that had appeared to have been churned … Continue reading Scientist blames grad student for gibberish book chapter — a charge she calls ‘crazy’

When ‘out of print’ really means ‘retracted’

We’ve taken publishers to task for disappearing articles without providing readers an explanation for the move. Turns out, they do the same with books, too.  In September 2014, Springer Nature published “Beekeeping for Poverty Alleviation and Livelihood Security Vol 1: Technological Aspects of Beekeeping,” described as:

Weekend reads: Attacks on scientists; NAS ousts researcher; how much it costs to publish

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: Journal distances itself from cash for citations scheme after Retraction … Continue reading Weekend reads: Attacks on scientists; NAS ousts researcher; how much it costs to publish

Weekend reads: A lawsuit over a cell line; criminal charges for a science agency; nonsense in prestigious journals

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: Leading marine ecologist, now White House official, violated prominent journal’s … Continue reading Weekend reads: A lawsuit over a cell line; criminal charges for a science agency; nonsense in prestigious journals

Leading marine ecologist, now White House official, violated prominent journal’s policies in handling now-retracted paper

A marine ecologist at Oregon State University now helping lead the Biden White House’s climate and environmental initiatives violated the conflict of interest policy at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences when she edited a paper in the journal last year. Jane Lubchenco, who served as administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric … Continue reading Leading marine ecologist, now White House official, violated prominent journal’s policies in handling now-retracted paper

Weekend reads: Paper mill sanctions; UT Austin suspends prof, repays grant funds; researchers in Mexico threatened with arrest

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: Researcher leaves Wistar Institute as he retracts a Nature paper … Continue reading Weekend reads: Paper mill sanctions; UT Austin suspends prof, repays grant funds; researchers in Mexico threatened with arrest

Criticism engulfs paper claiming an asteroid destroyed Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah

Scientific Reports is taking heat on social media and from data sleuths for publishing a paper implying that the Biblical story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah might have been the retelling of the devastation wrought by an exploding asteroid in or around the year 1,650 BCE.  To the lay reader — and to … Continue reading Criticism engulfs paper claiming an asteroid destroyed Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah