More than a year ago, an editor agreed a paper should be retracted. It hasn’t been.

Eighteen months after the editor in chief of a Springer Nature journal received allegations of plagiarism – and more than a year after the editor apparently decided to retract it – the article remains intact and the journal’s investigation has not yet concluded.  The paper, “Robotic Standard Development Life Cycle in Action,” was published in … Continue reading More than a year ago, an editor agreed a paper should be retracted. It hasn’t been.

Leading primate researcher admits to faking data in NIH grant applications, paper

The director of the Southwest National Primate Research Center at Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio faked data 10 different times in federal grant applications and a now-retracted paper, according to the U.S. Office of Research Integrity. The Texas primate center has garnered some attention during the pandemic for taking part in tests of … Continue reading Leading primate researcher admits to faking data in NIH grant applications, paper

Happy 12th birthday, Retraction Watch: And what a year it was

Every year in the days leading up to August 3 – our birthday – we find some time to review where we’ve been and where we’re going. We often start with the very first post we published on August 3, 2010.  That post begins with a mention of Anil Potti – remember him? – and … Continue reading Happy 12th birthday, Retraction Watch: And what a year it was

Weekend reads: 50 years after Tuskegee; ‘Is psychological science self-correcting?’; ‘The peer review system is broken’

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: An editor invited me to submit a commentary, then he rejected it – and named and blamed me in an editorial University of Fukui professor called out for fake peer review, loses “love hormone” paper … Continue reading Weekend reads: 50 years after Tuskegee; ‘Is psychological science self-correcting?’; ‘The peer review system is broken’

University of Fukui professor called out for fake peer review, loses “love hormone” paper

A researcher in Japan appears to have written laudatory comments about her articles that a colleague passed off as his own during peer review. This may have happened for as many as five papers, two of which have been retracted. Akemi Tomoda, of the Child Development Research Center at the University of Fukui, collaborated with … Continue reading University of Fukui professor called out for fake peer review, loses “love hormone” paper

Crystallography database flags nearly 1000 structures linked to a paper mill

A chemistry database of crystal structures has marked nearly 1000 entries with expressions of concern after finding they were linked to articles identified as products of a paper mill.  The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) added notes to 992 structures in its database, according to a notice posted to its website in May. And a crystallography … Continue reading Crystallography database flags nearly 1000 structures linked to a paper mill

Weekend reads: Harvard sued over retracted paper; ‘retraction with honor’; critiquing our fake peer review coverage

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Papers in Scientific Reports – and their expressions of concern – raise questions 250th COVID-19 retraction is for faked ethics approval Papers in Croce case with “blatantly obvious” problems still aren’t retracted after misconduct investigation: … Continue reading Weekend reads: Harvard sued over retracted paper; ‘retraction with honor’; critiquing our fake peer review coverage

Papers in Croce case with “blatantly obvious” problems still aren’t retracted after misconduct investigation: sleuth

This week, Nature reported on two institutional reports that found scientists in Carlo Croce’s cancer research lab at The Ohio State University had committed research misconduct including plagiarism and data falsification.  Another institutional investigation directed at Croce did not find he committed research misconduct but did identify problems with how he managed his lab, according … Continue reading Papers in Croce case with “blatantly obvious” problems still aren’t retracted after misconduct investigation: sleuth

Papers in Scientific Reports – and their expressions of concern – raise questions

Has Springer Nature’s Scientific Reports been targeted with an authorship for sale scheme? At least one expert in such matters thinks so.  The journal has issued two recent expressions of concern for papers by researchers from Indonesia, Iran and Russia with highly unusual – and oddly similar – constellations of authors.  One 2021 article, “Numerical … Continue reading Papers in Scientific Reports – and their expressions of concern – raise questions

Weekend reads: How to fix peer review; a research ethics oath; papers become less readable

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Author objects to “irrelevant reviewers” as journal retracts four papers Meet the hijacked journal that keeps rising from the ashes Engineering researcher who cast blame on co-author will soon have 12 retractions Lawsuit prompts retraction … Continue reading Weekend reads: How to fix peer review; a research ethics oath; papers become less readable