Another busy week at Retraction Watch, beginning with a story that stunned even us. There was lots happening elsewhere on the web, too, particularly among science journalists taking a look at their own work:
Another busy week at Retraction Watch, with Ivan speaking in Coventry, UK. Here’s what was happening elsewhere on the web:
One of the questions we often get — but are careful to answer with some version of “we don’t know because we don’t have a denominator” — is how retraction rates vary by scientific field and country. We’ve noticed that the reasons for retraction seem to vary among countries, but didn’t really have the data. … Continue reading Which countries have the most retractions, for which reasons?
The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine has retracted a 2012 paper by a group of pediatric gut researchers in Naples, Italy, who seemed to have had a visceral reaction to using their own words. The paper, “Composition and roles of intestinal microbiota in children,” sought to provide an update of the advantages of new-generation … Continue reading Near “word-to-word” similarities topple microflora paper
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
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?
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
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
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
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