Search Results for: authorship

University of Queensland investigation leads to third retraction

A duo of former University of Queensland researchers have had a third article retracted following an investigation into 92 papers. In September, Bruce Murdoch and Caroline Barwood had a paper in the European Journal of Neurology retracted. Earlier this month, the same happened to a paper in Aphasiology. The retraction announced by the university today … Continue reading University of Queensland investigation leads to third retraction

How common is scientific misconduct in Nigeria?

We’ve only covered one retraction from Nigeria. But as we’ve often noted, retraction rates don’t necessarily correlate with rates of problematic research, so the low number doesn’t really answer the question in this post’s title. Lucky for us, a group of authors have started publishing surveys of Nigerian scientists on the subject. In a new … Continue reading How common is scientific misconduct in Nigeria?

Following “personal attacks and threats,” Elsevier plant journal makes author persona non grata

An Elsevier journal has taken “the exceptional step of ceasing to communicate” with a scientist-critic after a series of “unfounded personal attacks and threats.” The move means that the journal, Scientia Horticulturae, will not review any papers that include the critic, Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva, as an author. Here is the text of the letter … Continue reading Following “personal attacks and threats,” Elsevier plant journal makes author persona non grata

MS paper second to fall following University of Queensland investigation

Two former University of Queensland researchers have lost another paper following an investigation into their work. In September, the university announced that a paper in the European Journal of Neurology by Bruce Murdoch and Caroline Barwood would be retracted because no primary data can be located, and no evidence has been found that the study … Continue reading MS paper second to fall following University of Queensland investigation

Late resveratrol researcher Dipak Das manages to revise and publish paper from the grave

Follow this timeline, if you would: August 14, 2013: Former UConn researcher Dipak Das, who was found to have committed misconduct, submits a paper to Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. September 19, 2013: Das dies. October 17, 2013: Das submits revisions to his paper in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. October 18, 2013: Paper accepted. … Continue reading Late resveratrol researcher Dipak Das manages to revise and publish paper from the grave

And then there were none: Plagiarism forces retraction of metabolism paper with vanishing authors

Nutrition & Metabolism has retracted a 2008 article by a dwindling group of researchers from Pakistan. We’d say it’s the equivalent of punting on first down, expect that’s what the editors probably should have done in the beginning. As it happens, the journal seems to be guilty of delay of game in this case. As … Continue reading And then there were none: Plagiarism forces retraction of metabolism paper with vanishing authors

Is it ethical to ghost-write a paper?

Another installment of Ask Retraction Watch: I am a postdoc and looking to supplement my income with medical writing (our lab recently didn’t get it’s funding renewed, so now on part-time to minimise costs). The most recent jobs I have been offered are two brief reports and one full article. A quick internet search of … Continue reading Is it ethical to ghost-write a paper?

Does science need a retraction “shame list?”

A pair of engineering researchers has analyzed the work of a handful of prolific scientific fraudsters, and has concluded that science needs a “shame list” to deter future misconduct. The paper, “Analysis and Implications of Retraction Period and Coauthorship of Fraudulent Publications,” by Jong Yong Abdiel Foo and Xin Ji Alan Tan, of  Ngee Ann … Continue reading Does science need a retraction “shame list?”

Weekend reads: China’s scientific publishing black market, how to blow the whistle, and more

It’s been a busy week here at Retraction Watch, with breaking news about hotly debated papers from Nature and about GMOs, but there have been interesting stories about retractions and scientific misconduct elsewhere, too. Here’s a sampling:

Citing “scientific dishonesty,” Danish board calls for retraction of controversial paper on decline of Western civilization

The Danish Committees for Scientific Dishonesty (DCSD) is calling for the retraction of a politically sensitive article by Helmuth Nyborg, a controversial Danish  psychologist, over concerns about referencing and authorship. The 2011 paper, “The Decay of Western Civilization: Double Relaxed Darwinian Selection,” appeared in Personality and Individual Differences, a prestigious journal in the field, and … Continue reading Citing “scientific dishonesty,” Danish board calls for retraction of controversial paper on decline of Western civilization