Weekend reads: The need for more honesty in science; a fight between authors of a GM mosquito paper; faked academic CVs

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 a case of doing the right thing in autism research; … Continue reading Weekend reads: The need for more honesty in science; a fight between authors of a GM mosquito paper; faked academic CVs

Weekend reads: Jailed for publishing a paper; pushing back on vaping research; “sugar daddy science”

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 lots of news involving Nature, including the retraction of a … Continue reading Weekend reads: Jailed for publishing a paper; pushing back on vaping research; “sugar daddy science”

Weekend reads: Retract papers, win major awards; “citation doping;” authorship abuse

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 a paper that used a mouse that doesn’t exist; the … Continue reading Weekend reads: Retract papers, win major awards; “citation doping;” authorship abuse

‘Text neck’ — aka ‘horns’ — paper earns corrections

A highly controversial 2018 paper suggesting that too much bent-neck staring at your cell phone could sprout, in the words of one of the authors, a “horn” on the back of your head is — perhaps unsurprisingly — getting corrected.  The article, “Prominent exostosis projecting from the occipital squama more substantial and prevalent in young … Continue reading ‘Text neck’ — aka ‘horns’ — paper earns corrections

Weekend reads: Citation manipulation gone wild; astrology meets research; a classic mistake in a study of free will

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 a paper that claimed that scientists were … Continue reading Weekend reads: Citation manipulation gone wild; astrology meets research; a classic mistake in a study of free will

A publisher just retracted 22 articles. And the whistleblower is just getting started.

SAGE Publishing is today retracting 22 articles by a materials science researcher who published in two of their journals — but the anonymous reader who brought the problems to their attention says the author’s duplication affects more than 100 articles. Ali Nazari, now of Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, had five papers retracted earlier … Continue reading A publisher just retracted 22 articles. And the whistleblower is just getting started.

Weekend reads: The scale of misconduct in China; toxic peer reviews; license to publish?; an editorial revolt

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 a researcher at Northwestern who’s up to five retractions; a … Continue reading Weekend reads: The scale of misconduct in China; toxic peer reviews; license to publish?; an editorial revolt

Northwestern researcher has four more papers retracted, making five

A pathologist in Chicago has lost five papers for image manipulation and other problems.  The first retraction for Yashpal Kanwar, of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, appeared in 2013, for a review article published earlier that year in the American Journal of Physiology Renal Physiology. According to the notice: 

Weekend reads: PhD sues alma mater for alleged retaliation; an unexpected rejection; saying no to peer review requests

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 a former postdoc who faked nearly 60 experiments; an apology … Continue reading Weekend reads: PhD sues alma mater for alleged retaliation; an unexpected rejection; saying no to peer review requests

Springer Nature took eleven months to retract a plagiarized book, then made it disappear without a trace

A year ago today, Jennifer Powers, a co-author of a 2009 paper wrote to Springer Nature to alert the publisher to the fact that Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest: Research Trends and Emerging Features, a 2017 textbook by J. S. Singh and R.K. Chaturvedi, had plagiarized her work, and the work of others. A publisher representative … Continue reading Springer Nature took eleven months to retract a plagiarized book, then made it disappear without a trace