Search Results for: doing the right thing

Journal flags two more papers by diabetes researcher who sued to stop retractions (and now has 12)

A diabetes journal has issued two notices of concern for papers co-authored by a researcher who took another publisher to court after it did the same thing — but ultimately lost. The notices are for two papers co-authored by Mario Saad — who, after losing his legal battle with the American Diabetes Association, has since … Continue reading Journal flags two more papers by diabetes researcher who sued to stop retractions (and now has 12)

Authors who retract for honest error say they aren’t penalized as a result

Are there two types of retractions? One that results from a form of misconduct, such as plagiarism or manipulating figures, and another that results from “honest errors,” or genuine mistakes the authors have owned up to? More and more research is suggesting that the community views each type very differently, and don’t shun researchers who … Continue reading Authors who retract for honest error say they aren’t penalized as a result

Authors retract (and replace) cardiac rehab study in JAMA journal

Researchers have retracted and replaced a 2014 paper in JAMA Internal Medicine after realizing a number of errors had affected the findings. The authors note the mistakes do not have a significant impact on the overall proportion of heart patients who participated in cardiac rehab. However, a number of findings were affected, such as the difference in participation … Continue reading Authors retract (and replace) cardiac rehab study in JAMA journal

Costly genotyping mistake forces lab to pull 3rd paper

A few months ago, an author alerted us to two retractions — including one in PNAS — after realizing his team had been using plants affected by inadvertent genotyping errors for an entire year. He initially told us these were the only two papers affected, but more recently reached out to say he had to pull … Continue reading Costly genotyping mistake forces lab to pull 3rd paper

Oh, well — “love hormone” doesn’t reduce psychiatric symptoms, say researchers in request to retract

It turns out, snorting the so-called “love hormone” may not help reduce psychiatric symptoms such as depression and anxiety. At least, that’s the conclusion the authors of a 2015 meta-analysis, which initially found intranasal doses of oxytocin could reduce psychiatric symptoms, have now reached. After a pair of graduate students pointed out flaws in the paper, … Continue reading Oh, well — “love hormone” doesn’t reduce psychiatric symptoms, say researchers in request to retract

Error in one line of code sinks cancer study

Authors of a 2016 cancer paper have retracted it after finding an error in one line of code in the program used to calculate some of the results. Sarah Darby, last author of the now-retracted paper from the University of Oxford, UK, told Retraction Watch that the mistake was made by a doctoral student. When … Continue reading Error in one line of code sinks cancer study

Author asks to retract nearly 20-year old paper over figure questions, lack of data

The last author of a 1999 paper has asked the journal to retract it less than one month after a user raised questions about images on PubPeer. Yesterday, last author Jim Woodgett posted a note on the site saying the author who generated the figures in question could not find the original data, and since … Continue reading Author asks to retract nearly 20-year old paper over figure questions, lack of data

Authors retract study with contaminated cell lines

Authors of a molecular biology paper have pulled it after realizing that their cell lines were contaminated. According to the notice in Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC), the contamination occurred by “unknown means” in the senior authors’ laboratory, who told us the mistake was a difficult one to catch. He added that they discovered the problem … Continue reading Authors retract study with contaminated cell lines

Second retraction for bone researcher with lifetime funding ban

A researcher banned from funding by a Canadian agency for misconduct has earned her second retraction, after a reanalysis uncovered problems with the paper’s conclusions. The retraction follows an investigation by Sophie Jamal‘s former workplace, the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, which has led to a recent retraction of a JAMA paper due to data manipulation, and a lifetime … Continue reading Second retraction for bone researcher with lifetime funding ban

Nutrition study pulled after statistical flaws emerge

A paper that suggested that eating flaxseed could reduce inflammation in men at risk of heart disease has been retracted, after researchers pointed out the paper’s flaws. The retraction is part of a large initiative on the part of nutrition researcher David Allison and colleagues to clean up the literature, which we’ve previously covered. Regarding this paper, he told us: … Continue reading Nutrition study pulled after statistical flaws emerge