Less than two weeks ago, PLOS ONE published a paper about the parents of teenagers who appeared to immediately start questioning their gender identity around the time of puberty. Then the critiques flooded in. The paper — about a highly contentious issue — surveyed parents who felt that their children had suddenly started to question … Continue reading Reader outcry prompts Brown to retract press release on trans teens
A 2017 paper, when originally published, had a fairly clear message: People who got the flu vaccine every year were no less protected than someone who had skipped last year’s dose. But now that it’s been retracted, the picture is somewhat less clear. The retraction notice in BMC Medicine doesn’t provide much information — it … Continue reading Authors retract paper on effects of skipping the flu vaccine
A researcher who was found guilty of committing misconduct while using three federal grants has published new findings that cite those grants. In 2012, the U.S. Office of Research Integrity determined that Michael Miller, a former department chair at the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, had committed misconduct by … Continue reading Researcher found to have committed misconduct using federal grants is publishing again — and cites those very grants
A journal has retracted a 2016 article for a litany of flaws, including plagiarism and a massive self-inflicted wound that should have obviated the first offense. According to the notice in Cardiology Research and Practice (a Hindawi title) for the paper, which compared two methods of threading a catheter into the heart’s arteries:
Last year, an academic society recommended that journals retract nine papers by a researcher in Japan who collaborated with a notorious fraudster. Only two have been retracted. The researcher is Yuhji Saitoh of Yachiyo Medical Center and Tokyo Women’s Medical University, who co-authored many papers with Yoshitaka Fujii, an anethesiologist who holds the dubious distinction … Continue reading A year ago, an academic society recommended nine papers be retracted. Journals have retracted only two.
When you think a retraction notice doesn’t tell the whole story, what should you do? For one group of researchers who’ve been closely following how journals handle the work associated with a bone researcher found guilty of misconduct, the actions of one publication were too problematic to let go. So the researchers wrote to the … Continue reading Dear editor: Your retraction notice stinks
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 story of a journal that took 13 months to … Continue reading Weekend reads: A gold star in astronomy; leading journals underrepresent women in photos; how papers can mislead
Evelyne Decullier & Hervé Maisonneuve have been studying retractions for a long time. They’ve looked at how long retractions take to show up in PubMed, and five years ago they published a paper on the quality of retraction notices — and how well they were disseminated — in 2008. Now, they’ve repeated that analysis for … Continue reading Have retraction notices improved over time?
A journal has temporarily removed a study by a researcher who has long championed a highly controversial “abortion reversal” method over concerns about its ethical approval. The study, “A Case Series Detailing the Successful Reversal of the Effects of Mifepristone Using Progesterone,” appeared in Issues In Law And Medicine in April. Its first author, George … Continue reading Study claiming “abortion reversal” is safe and effective temporarily withdrawn for ethical issues
A few weeks ago, we received a press release that gave us pause: The University of Liverpool said it had found one of its researchers guilty of research misconduct — but did not say who, nor which papers might be involved. Now, less than one month later, the university is naming the researcher, and identifying … Continue reading University of Liverpool reverses course, names researcher guilty of misconduct