Search Results for: medical

“I do wish that journal editors would not take six years to perform an investigation and to retract.”

In July 2014, Elisabeth Bik notified PLOS ONE that she’d found three papers in the journal by a group of researchers who had clearly manipulated figures in the articles.  More than six years later, the journal has finally retracted the publications.  The authors were affiliated with the Fourth Military Medical University in Shaanxi, China. The … Continue reading “I do wish that journal editors would not take six years to perform an investigation and to retract.”

Weekend reads: How retracted work continues to spread; claims of PhD thesis plagiarism in the wine industry; Brexit and research integrity

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: Researchers face disciplinary action as dozens of their studies fall … Continue reading Weekend reads: How retracted work continues to spread; claims of PhD thesis plagiarism in the wine industry; Brexit and research integrity

The bizarre anti-vaccine paper a Florida professor has been trying to have retracted to no avail

Fly, meet elephant’s back. Robert Speth has spent the last 19 months trying to get two of the world’s largest medical publishers to retract an article he considers to be a “travesty” of pseudoscientific claims and overtly anti-vaccination bias. In the process, he has uncovered slipshod management of a journal’s editorial board that angered, among … Continue reading The bizarre anti-vaccine paper a Florida professor has been trying to have retracted to no avail

In which a researcher named Das plagiarizes from another researcher named Das, one with 20 retractions

Sometimes things get pretty meta around here.  Exhibit A: The journal Current Medical Chemistry has retracted a 2012 paper for plagiarizing from a 2011 article — and the senior authors of each article share the same last name.  Ho hum, you say. But that name is one that might be familiar to RW readers. Here’s … Continue reading In which a researcher named Das plagiarizes from another researcher named Das, one with 20 retractions

Researchers face disciplinary action as dozens of their studies fall under scrutiny

A group of obstetrics researchers in the Middle East is facing disciplinary action after questions were raised about the validity of the data in dozens of their published studies.  The tale — involving contaminated clinical trials, potentially fabricated PhDs, findings of misconduct that went ignored, accusations of terrorist sympathies and unresponsive journals — requires some … Continue reading Researchers face disciplinary action as dozens of their studies fall under scrutiny

30 years later, physics journal retracts paper that blamed feminism for many of society’s ills

For those of you who think that critiques of feminism have no place in journals about physics, the Canadian Journal of Physics agrees. But it took them 30 years to get there.  The journal has retracted a 1990 article by a notorious male chauvinist who claimed, among other things, that feminism was responsible for an … Continue reading 30 years later, physics journal retracts paper that blamed feminism for many of society’s ills

“This unfortunate situation”: Journal retracts bizarre paper about a black hole at the center of Earth

It was a paper that caught the attention — and bemusement — of Twitter: And now it is no more, along with four more articles from the Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences in what was billed as a special issue on Global Dermatology. Here’s the whole title: “A black hole at the center … Continue reading “This unfortunate situation”: Journal retracts bizarre paper about a black hole at the center of Earth

The Doctor Who Fooled The World: An excerpt from Brian Deer’s new book about Andrew Wakefield

Retraction Watch readers are no doubt familiar with the case of Andrew Wakefield, the former gastroenterologist who led a 1998 paper in The Lancet — now retracted — that led him to claim a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. It was journalist Brian Deer who revealed the true details of that work, and … Continue reading The Doctor Who Fooled The World: An excerpt from Brian Deer’s new book about Andrew Wakefield

Weekend reads: Steak-umm in the scientific literature; hushed-up COVID-19 data; major award cancelled for 2020

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: An exclusive about a case of misconduct at the University … Continue reading Weekend reads: Steak-umm in the scientific literature; hushed-up COVID-19 data; major award cancelled for 2020

Weekend reads: Retracting racist and sexist work; The Lancet learns from a retraction; Trump administration interferes with publications

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: The retraction of 23 papers, and block of 35 more, … Continue reading Weekend reads: Retracting racist and sexist work; The Lancet learns from a retraction; Trump administration interferes with publications