Retraction Watch readers may recall Eve Armstrong’s April Fool’s preprints modeling a potential prom date and proving that it was, indeed, Colonel Mustard with a candlestick. We’re pleased — no fooling, and a few weeks early — to present an excerpt from Armstrong’s new work of fiction, Murder by Theory: Two Tales from the Ivory … Continue reading Murder by Theory: Tales from the Ivory Tower’s Dark Side
A former University of California, Berkeley postdoc in physics “engaged in research misconduct in research reported in a grant application” submitted to the NIH, according to the U.S. Office of Research Integrity. The postdoc, Shuo Chen, “reused an image of visual cortex neurons to represent fluorescence calcium imaging of hippocampal neurons,” the ORI said. Chen, … Continue reading Award-winning Berkeley postdoc faked data, says federal watchdog
Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Authors request retraction of study in Nature journal and look into four more papers Study on teen pot use goes up in smoke, then reappears UNC-Chapel Hill vice chancellor resigns post after admitting to … Continue reading Weekend reads: Journals’ Russia bans; a chronic fatigue syndrome retraction; a Twitter retraction notice feature?
A JAMA journal has retracted and replaced a widely circulated 2021 paper which purported to find that pot use among adolescents drops when states make the drug legal. The article, “Association of Marijuana Legalization With Marijuana Use Among US High School Students, 1993-2019,” appeared in JAMA Network Open and received a bale of attention in … Continue reading Study on teen pot use goes up in smoke, then reappears
A Lancet journal has retracted and replaced a 2021 paper on the treatment of pancreatic cancer over an error that prompted an institutional investigation. The article, “Stereotactic body radiotherapy plus pembrolizumab and trametinib versus stereotactic body radiotherapy plus gemcitabine for locally recurrent pancreatic cancer after surgical resection: an open-label, randomised, controlled, phase 2 trial,” appeared … Continue reading Lancet journal retracts, replaces paper on treatment for pancreatic cancer
Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Sports medicine researcher Paul McCrory requests another retraction Journal editor explains ban on manuscripts from Russian institutions NASA researchers retract Nature paper on climate change and evapotranspiration Was leading sports medicine researcher’s plagiarism ‘an … Continue reading Weekend reads: An academic and a Russian spy; concussion expert resigns from committee; publishing peer reviews
Earlier this week, a scientist in Russia posted, on Facebook, part of a letter rejecting a manuscript explaining that “the editors of the Journal of Molecular Structure made a decision to ban the manuscripts submitted from Russian institutions.” That move was confirmed by Richard van Noorden of Nature. Here, in an email he sent to … Continue reading Journal editor explains ban on manuscripts from Russian institutions
A Springer Nature journal has retracted a 2020 paper on exposure among cement workers to a potentially harmful chemical for a litany of errors that one might have expected peer reviewers to catch before publication – and the corresponding author is not happy. Titled “Citrate stabilized Fe3O4/DMG modified carbon paste electrode for determination of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane … Continue reading Author asks ‘Why? Why? And why?’ as his paper is retracted
Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: How to find evidence of paper mills using peer review comments Journal retracts a paper it published with a missing table after author fails to provide it Which takes longer to produce: An infant … Continue reading Weekend reads: ‘Published crap;’ randomized grant awards; ‘Problems in Science Publishing’
Finding papers produced by paper mills has become a major headache for many of the world’s largest publishers over the past year, and they’re largely playing catch-up since sleuths began identifying them a few years ago. But there may be a new way: Earlier this month, Adam Day, a data scientist at SAGE Publishing, posted … Continue reading How to find evidence of paper mills using peer review comments