Weekend reads: Elsevier mutiny; babies as co-authors; what to do after rejection

This week’s Weekend Reads, which appears below, was preempted yesterday by the news that the Office of Research Integrity had issued a finding of misconduct in the long-running case of Anil Potti. The week also featured news about a child psychiatry trial halted for unexplained reasons, and saw the launch of our new weekly column … Continue reading Weekend reads: Elsevier mutiny; babies as co-authors; what to do after rejection

Elsevier retracting nine papers for fake peer review

The fake peer review retraction count continues to mount. Elsevier is retracting nine papers from five journals because fake email addresses for reviewers were provided during submission of the original manuscripts. According to a statement from the publisher:

Weekend reads: Is failing to share data misconduct?; worst journal ever; Elsevier boycott

The big news this week at Retraction Watch was the release of more than two dozen retractions for accounting researcher James Hunton, and the sentencing of Dong-Pyou Han for scientific fraud (see more below). Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

A tale of two journals: Elsevier retracts paper after publishing it in the wrong journal

If you happen to pick up this month’s issue of Economic Modelling, there’s a little surprise on page 307—blank pages. Publisher Elsevier has retracted a paper from that space because it “inadvertently published” the paper in the journal. In fact, Elsevier meant to include the paper in the pages of its other journal, Energy Economics. … Continue reading A tale of two journals: Elsevier retracts paper after publishing it in the wrong journal

Weekend reads: Gay canvassing study saga continues; Elsevier policy sparks concern; a string of scandals

As might have been expected, continuing developments in the Michael LaCour gay canvassing study retraction have drowned out coverage of stories that ordinarily might capture a lot of attention, such as fake case reports making their way into CDC data. A sampling: Berkeley graduate student David Broockman, one of the people whose critique brought down … Continue reading Weekend reads: Gay canvassing study saga continues; Elsevier policy sparks concern; a string of scandals

Editor of Medical Journal of Australia fired after criticizing decision to outsource to Elsevier

Public health expert Stephen Leeder has been ousted as editor of Australia’s top medical journal after he questioned the decision to outsource the journal’s production and other tasks to publishing giant Elsevier. Leeder, emeritus professor at the University of Sydney, told the Medical Observer he was asked to leave when he and the journal’s publisher, … Continue reading Editor of Medical Journal of Australia fired after criticizing decision to outsource to Elsevier

Elsevier retracting 16 papers for faked peer review

Fake peer reviews: They’re all the rage. Sixteen papers are being retracted across three Elsevier journals after the publisher discovered that one of the authors, Khalid Zaman, orchestrated fake peer reviews by submitting false contact information for his suggested reviewers. This particular kind of scam has been haunting online peer review for a few years now, as loyal Retraction … Continue reading Elsevier retracting 16 papers for faked peer review

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

Weekend reads: Shocking suicide statistics, scientists say they’re over-regulated, the real @FakeElsevier

Another busy week at Retraction Watch. Here’s what was happening elsewhere on the web: