Retracted coronavirus (COVID-19) papers

We’ve been tracking retractions of papers about COVID-19 as part of our database. Here’s a running list, which will be updated as needed. (For some context on these figures, see this post, our letter in Accountability in Research and the last section of this Nature news article. Also see a note about the terminology regarding … Continue reading Retracted coronavirus (COVID-19) papers

Publisher slaps expressions of concern on 20 papers by nutrition supplement-selling doctor

More than two years after being made aware of undisclosed conflicts of interest by a Minnesota  physician who ran afoul of the U.S. FDA for health claims about supplements sold by his company, a publisher has added expressions of concern on 20 of the doctor’s papers. As we reported in August 2019, on Feb. 23, … Continue reading Publisher slaps expressions of concern on 20 papers by nutrition supplement-selling doctor

Weekend reads: The promise and peril of speedy coronavirus research; a JAMA retraction; Google Scholar indexes a lunch menu

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. Sending thoughts to our readers and wishing them the best in this uncertain time. The week … Continue reading Weekend reads: The promise and peril of speedy coronavirus research; a JAMA retraction; Google Scholar indexes a lunch menu

Former UCSD prof who resigned amid investigation into China ties has paper flagged for using the wrong test

Science Translational Medicine has issued an expression of concern about a 2020 paper on the genetics of colorectal cancer by a group in China whose results were pegged on a test that couldn’t have produced the findings.  The article, “Circulating tumor DNA methylation profiles enable early diagnosis, prognosis prediction, and screening for colorectal cancer,” appeared … Continue reading Former UCSD prof who resigned amid investigation into China ties has paper flagged for using the wrong test

A year after a university asked two Elsevier journals to retract papers, they haven’t

How long should a retraction take? As Retraction Watch readers may recall, that’s a question we ask often. In 2018, for example, we wrote a post noting that nearly two years after the University of Maryland, Baltimore, had requested retractions, the journals had done nothing. Some of the papers have since been retracted. We have … Continue reading A year after a university asked two Elsevier journals to retract papers, they haven’t

An author realized a paper had plagiarized his thesis. It took the journal four years to retract it.

After more than four years of doing, well, not much, evidently, Scientific Reports — a Springer Nature title — has retracted a paper which plagiarized from the bachelor’s thesis of a Hungarian mathematician.  The article, “Modified box dimension and average weighted receiving time on the weighted fractal networks,” was purportedly written by a group of … Continue reading An author realized a paper had plagiarized his thesis. It took the journal four years to retract it.

The tale of the secret publishing ban

We have an update on a post we published late last month.  We reported on March 31 that Tissue Engineering had retracted a paper by Xing Wei, of the, National Engineering Research Center of Genetic Medicine at Jinan University, in Guangzhou, China, because of image manipulation. The retraction notice for that paper, “Use of Decellularized … Continue reading The tale of the secret publishing ban

A paper plagiarizes an article retracted for plagiarism and other sins — but it isn’t being retracted.

We make a point of never calling for a particular paper’s retraction, nor ever weighing in on whether a journal should have made that move. That would be, we often say, like a financial reporter recommending stocks. But a recent expression of concern is sorely testing our resolve on the matter. The expression of concern … Continue reading A paper plagiarizes an article retracted for plagiarism and other sins — but it isn’t being retracted.

A tale of one exceedingly clear retraction notice, and two nonexistent ones

In the market for an admirably clear and concise retraction notice? Look no further!  A researcher in China has lost one — well, maybe two, more on that in a moment — 2015 articles for falsification of data and other misconduct. And one of the journals he tried to dupe is having none of it.  … Continue reading A tale of one exceedingly clear retraction notice, and two nonexistent ones

Papers that cite Retraction Watch

Over the years, many papers have cited the work of Retraction Watch, whether a blog post, an article we’ve written for another outlet, or our database. Here’s a selection. Know of one we’ve missed? Let us know at [email protected]. Like Retraction Watch? You can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, follow us on Twitter, like … Continue reading Papers that cite Retraction Watch