Search Results for: coding error

“I placed too much faith in underpowered studies:” Nobel Prize winner admits mistakes

Although it’s the right thing to do, it’s never easy to admit error — particularly when you’re an extremely high-profile scientist whose work is being dissected publicly. So while it’s not a retraction, we thought this was worth noting: A Nobel Prize-winning researcher has admitted on a blog that he relied on weak studies in a … Continue reading “I placed too much faith in underpowered studies:” Nobel Prize winner admits mistakes

Watch out for predatory journals, and consider retract/replace, suggests medical journal group

The challenges facing science publishing are ever-evolving, and so too are the recommendations for how to face them. As such, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) frequently updates its advice to authors. In December, 2016, it made some notable changes – specifically, asking authors to pay closer attention to where they publish, in … Continue reading Watch out for predatory journals, and consider retract/replace, suggests medical journal group

Doing the right thing: Authors pull psych review after finding inaccuracies

Two psychology researchers are retracting a meta-analysis after discovering errors they believe may affect the conclusions. We’re giving this a “doing the right thing” nod, as last author Pankaj Patel of Villanova University in Pennsylvania contacted us about his plan to retract the paper, and resubmit for publication once he and co-author Sherry Thatcher — at the University … Continue reading Doing the right thing: Authors pull psych review after finding inaccuracies

Researcher hired lawyers to try to get journal to run correction he wanted

When a researcher suspected a paper on fireflies had borrowed some of its methodology, he called lawyers to help him convince the publisher to craft a correction notice that was to his satisfaction. Although the authors submitted a correction to BMC Plant Biology acknowledging Robert Birch as the original author of some material, as we reported previously, the publisher instead issued … Continue reading Researcher hired lawyers to try to get journal to run correction he wanted

Conservative political beliefs not linked to psychotic traits, as study claimed

Researchers have fixed a number of papers after mistakenly reporting that people who hold conservative political beliefs are more likely to exhibit traits associated with psychoticism, such as authoritarianism and tough-mindedness. As one of the notices specifies, now it appears that liberal political beliefs are linked with psychoticism. That paper also swapped ideologies when reporting on people higher in neuroticism and … Continue reading Conservative political beliefs not linked to psychotic traits, as study claimed

JAMA takes all calls for retraction seriously — even from PETA

A leading medical journal is taking a second look at a recent high-profile paper about elephants’ lower risk of cancer, after receiving a call for retraction from a somewhat unusual corner: the animal rights group PETA. This isn’t the first time the activist group has called for a retraction — last year, it nudged a … Continue reading JAMA takes all calls for retraction seriously — even from PETA

Ready to geek out on retraction data? Read this new preprint

There’s a new paper about retractions, and it’s chock-full of the kind of data that we love to geek out on. Enjoy. The new paper, “A Multi-dimensional Investigation of the Effects of Publication Retraction on Scholarly Impact,” appears on the preprint server arXiv — meaning it has yet to be peer-reviewed — and is co-authored … Continue reading Ready to geek out on retraction data? Read this new preprint

What to do when you make a mistake? Advice from authors who’ve been there

After a group of researchers noticed an error that affected the analysis of a survey of psychologists working with medical teams to help pediatric patients, they didn’t just issue a retraction — they published a commentary explaining what exactly went wrong. The error was discovered by a research assistant who was assembling a scientific poster, and noticed … Continue reading What to do when you make a mistake? Advice from authors who’ve been there

Suspicions of data manipulation lead to correction of testicular cancer paper

The corresponding author of a paper on testicular cancer is telling readers to discount a figure after she learned it may have been manipulated. Although that one figure in the 2005 paper in the British Journal of Cancer may be problematic, the authors found data to support the other figures, and its conclusions. This isn’t the first … Continue reading Suspicions of data manipulation lead to correction of testicular cancer paper

Journal retracts — and republishes — small study on gamma rays for OCD

JAMA Psychiatry has retracted and republished a paper on a cutting-edge procedure for patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. In the original paper, the authors claimed that three out of eight patients who underwent a procedure that used gamma rays to kill brain cells showed improvements 12 months later (versus zero in the group who underwent a “sham” procedure). But … Continue reading Journal retracts — and republishes — small study on gamma rays for OCD