Search Results for: medical

Weekend reads: Prof plagiarized student, says investigation; universities mishandle allegations; what we should learn from ‘bad science’

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: Meet the postdoc who says he’s been trying to retract … Continue reading Weekend reads: Prof plagiarized student, says investigation; universities mishandle allegations; what we should learn from ‘bad science’

Meet the postdoc who says he’s been trying to retract his own paper since 2016

In August 2015, bioengineers gathered in Milan, Italy, for the 37th annual conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. About 2,000 papers were accepted and published online for the conference. But an author of one of those articles says he’s been trying to retract it since 2016. As a PhD student at … Continue reading Meet the postdoc who says he’s been trying to retract his own paper since 2016

Former Cleveland Clinic researcher’s papers “more likely than not” included falsified images, says investigation

A former researcher at the Cleveland Clinic who studied cardiac genetics has lost three papers for what an institutional investigation concluded was “more likely than not” a case image falsification.  As we reported last year, the work of Subha Sen, once a highly funded scientist at Cleveland Clinic but who left the institution in 2011, … Continue reading Former Cleveland Clinic researcher’s papers “more likely than not” included falsified images, says investigation

Widely shared vitamin D-COVID-19 preprint removed from Lancet server

A preprint promoted by a member of the UK Parliament for claiming to show that vitamin D led to an “80% reduction in need for ICU and a 60% reduction in deaths” has been removed from a server used by The Lancet family of journals. The preprint, “Calcifediol Treatment and COVID-19-Related Outcomes,” was posted to … Continue reading Widely shared vitamin D-COVID-19 preprint removed from Lancet server

Exclusive: Ohio State researcher kept six-figure job for more than a year after a misconduct finding

In 2016, Mingjun Zhang, a biomedical engineering researcher at The Ohio State University, along with collaborators, published a paper that explored the mechanism behind ivy’s impressive adhesive strength. In it, the authors claimed to report the genetic sequences of the proteins making up the adhesive. The paper, entitled “Nanospherical arabinogalactan proteins are a key component … Continue reading Exclusive: Ohio State researcher kept six-figure job for more than a year after a misconduct finding

‘Conference organizers have ignored this:’ How common is plagiarism and duplication in abstracts?

Harold “Skip” Garner has worn many hats over the course of his career, including plasma physicist, biologist, and administrator. One of his interests is plagiarism and duplication the scientific literature, and he and colleagues developed a tool called eTBLAST that compares text passages to what has already been published to flag potential overlap. A new … Continue reading ‘Conference organizers have ignored this:’ How common is plagiarism and duplication in abstracts?

The one that got away: Researchers retract fish genome paper after species mix-up

A group of researchers in Canada has retracted their 2018 paper on the gene sequence of the Arctic charr — a particularly hearty member of the Salmonidae family that includes salmon and trout — after discovering that the sample they’d used for their analysis was from a different kind of fish. The paper, “The Arctic … Continue reading The one that got away: Researchers retract fish genome paper after species mix-up

Weekend reads: “Hot-crazy matrix” paper; “comfort women” controversy; COVID-19 vaccine misinformation

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: Eleven papers corrected after nutrition prof fails to disclose patent, … Continue reading Weekend reads: “Hot-crazy matrix” paper; “comfort women” controversy; COVID-19 vaccine misinformation

Leading evidence-based group blames pandemic for 9-month delay pulling flawed cancer review

Last February, Richard Pollock was reading a review in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews — a prominent resource for evidence-based medicine —  when he spotted an error.  In the first figure, which compared the effectiveness of two different treatments for the most common form of liver cancer, a label was switched. The error made … Continue reading Leading evidence-based group blames pandemic for 9-month delay pulling flawed cancer review

Weekend reads: A Holocaust studies misconduct finding; Nature investigating majorana paper; nepotistic 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: On COVID-19 PCR testing paper, “the criteria for a retraction … Continue reading Weekend reads: A Holocaust studies misconduct finding; Nature investigating majorana paper; nepotistic journals