Here’s something we haven’t seen before: A journal is asking tipsters to pay a fee to investigate a paper. After receiving a tip of our own about this new requirement, we reached out to Educational Research International, and received this response:
Although previous research has suggested peer reviewers are not influenced by knowing the authors’ identity and affiliation, a new Research Letter published today in JAMA suggests otherwise. In “Single-blind vs Double-blind Peer Review in the Setting of Author Prestige,” Kanu Okike at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center in Hawaii and his colleagues created a fake manuscript … Continue reading Reviewers may rate papers differently when blinded to authors’ identities, new study says
After the first author of a debated study about the benefits of positioning your body in an assertive ways — the so-called “power pose” — posted her concerns about the research, she has told us she does not believe the paper should be retracted. As reported by New York magazine, late last night, the first … Continue reading Yes, “power pose” study is flawed, but shouldn’t be retracted, says one author
The week at Retraction Watch featured news of a fine for a doctor who took part in a controversial fake trial, and a likely unprecedented call for retraction by the U.S. FDA commissioner. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:
Climate scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have withdrawn a study they wrote under eyebrow-raising pseudonyms. The withdrawn paper, about predicting surface temperatures of planets, appeared in Advances in Space Research in August, 2015, and is authored by Den Volokin and Lark ReLlez. Normally, a withdrawal wouldn’t raise our eyebrows, but climate scientist Gavin Schmidt pointed out on Twitter … Continue reading U.S. gov’t researchers withdraw climate paper after using pseudonyms
Recently, we reported that social psychologist and renowned data faker Diederik Stapel had found himself a new gig supporting research at a vocational university in the Netherlands — but it appears that was short-lived. According to multiple news reports, NHTV Breda will not be employing Stapel, after all. Here’s our Google translate of a portion from … Continue reading No academic post for fraudster Diederik Stapel, after all
A Copenhagen court has cleared neuroscientist Milena Penkowa of the most serious charges against her after she appealed a 2015 verdict that she had faked data. According to the CPH Post, the Eastern High Court in Copenhagen dismissed the case. Although the court acknowledged she had committed fraud, it declared it was not “serious forgery.” On Facebook, Penkowa posted … Continue reading Danish court dismisses charges against neuroscientist in appeal of fraud verdict
This week at Retraction Watch featured the return of a notorious fraudster, and plagiarism of plagiarism. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:
In a rare move, the University of Colorado has revoked the PhD of a former student in a pharmaceutical research lab, following an investigation that raised concerns about the integrity of his work. According to The Denver Post, Rajendra Kadam’s degree has been revoked by the University of Colorado Board of Regents. Last year, an investigation by the University … Continue reading U Colorado revokes PhD of former “golden boy”
A spectroscopy journal has retracted a 2016 study after concluding that its editors had been misled by a fake review. According to the retraction notice, the journal — Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy — accepted the paper due to positive feedback from someone assuming the identity of an expert reviewer, using an … Continue reading Peer review manipulation fells another study