Search Results for: elsevier

Oops: Elsevier journal publishes paper citing paper it promised to retract two months ago

Journal publishers can be agonizingly slow when it comes to officially retracting a paper. Here’s a prime example of the consequences of that bureaucratic foot-dragging: Ten months after being told that Fazlurrahman Khan had fabricated his data, and two months after announcing two of Khan’s papers would be retracted from two of its journals, Elsevier still … Continue reading Oops: Elsevier journal publishes paper citing paper it promised to retract two months ago

“Apparently, the bureaucracy at Elsevier is the most cumbersome thing in the world:” Journal editor

We recently came across a paper in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, an Elsevier title, that had been temporarily removed without explanation. While we see a fair number of such opaque notices from Elsevier — and have written about why we think they’re a bad idea — we took interest in this one because the … Continue reading “Apparently, the bureaucracy at Elsevier is the most cumbersome thing in the world:” Journal editor

Following “personal attacks and threats,” Elsevier plant journal makes author persona non grata

An Elsevier journal has taken “the exceptional step of ceasing to communicate” with a scientist-critic after a series of “unfounded personal attacks and threats.” The move means that the journal, Scientia Horticulturae, will not review any papers that include the critic, Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva, as an author. Here is the text of the letter … Continue reading Following “personal attacks and threats,” Elsevier plant journal makes author persona non grata

Is an “article in press” “published?” A word about Elsevier’s withdrawal policy

Earlier today, we reported on the withdrawal of a paper from Research Policy, an Elsevier journal. The notice didn’t give a reason, just that the “article has been withdrawn at the request of the authors and editor.” We’ve seen a number of such opaque withdrawals from Elsevier journals, and thought it was worth some exploration. … Continue reading Is an “article in press” “published?” A word about Elsevier’s withdrawal policy

How is Elsevier promoting ethical publishing? A guest post

As Retraction Watch readers know, we cover Elsevier’s journals frequently, including a story just last week about their peer review system being hacked.  And they’ve written about us, too. So we’re pleased to present a guest post by Elsevier’s Linda Lavelle, General Counsel-North America, about the publisher’s take on plagiarism and other unethical behavior — … Continue reading How is Elsevier promoting ethical publishing? A guest post

Was Elsevier’s peer review system hacked to get more citations?

Last week, we broke the story of Elsevier’s peer review system being hacked. As we reported, that led to faked peer reviews and retractions — although the submitting authors don’t seem to have been at fault. As of now, eleven papers by authors in China, India, Iran, and Turkey have been retracted from three journals. … Continue reading Was Elsevier’s peer review system hacked to get more citations?

Elsevier editorial system hacked, reviews faked, 11 retractions follow

For several months now, we’ve been reporting on variations on a theme: Authors submitting fake email addresses for potential peer reviewers, to ensure positive reviews. In August, for example, we broke the story of a Hyung-In Moon, who has now retracted 24 papers published by Informa because he managed to do his own peer review. … Continue reading Elsevier editorial system hacked, reviews faked, 11 retractions follow

Elsevier on Retraction Watch: “scholarly publishing is better for it”

It’s fair to say that we’ve been watching Elsevier over the past two-plus years, and we’ve also known they’ve been watching us. Last year, Tom Reller, the company’s vice president of global public relations, wrote that we “represent the new breed of science watchdog that is able to promote the results of their own investigations … Continue reading Elsevier on Retraction Watch: “scholarly publishing is better for it”

Elsevier parasitology journal retracts paper after finding author made up peer reviewer email addresses

Note to authors: If a journal asks you to suggest reviewers for your submitted manuscript, don’t thank them by faking the reviewer’s emails. You might just get caught. That’s what happened recently at Experimental Parasitology, according to the retraction notice for “Entamoeba histolytica: Cloning, expression and evaluation of the efficacy of a recombinant amebiasis cysteine … Continue reading Elsevier parasitology journal retracts paper after finding author made up peer reviewer email addresses