Search Results for: doing the right thing

Genotyping mistake costs lab two papers and year of work

Researchers are retracting two papers about molecular signalling in plants — including one from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) — after discovering some inadvertent genotyping errors. But that was only after they used the problematic plants for an entire year without realizing they’d made a mistake. In a pair of refreshingly transparent … Continue reading Genotyping mistake costs lab two papers and year of work

Authors retract non-reproducible Cell paper

Authors have retracted a paper from Cell after they were unable to reproduce data in two figures, compromising their confidence in some of the findings. The authors revisited their experiments after another lab was unable to replicate their data, about proteins that may play a role in lung cancer. The first author told Nature News in 2013 that … Continue reading Authors retract non-reproducible Cell paper

Structural biology corrections highlight best of the scientific process

If you need evidence of the value of transparency in science, check out a pair of recent corrections in the structural biology literature. This past August, researchers led by Qiu-Xing Jiang at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center corrected their study, first published in February 2014 in eLife, of prion-like protein aggregates called MAVS … Continue reading Structural biology corrections highlight best of the scientific process

Ecologists pull paper on how climate change affects moths after model mixup

Ecologists have retracted a paper published only months ago in Science Advances, after realizing that they had misinterpreted a climate model. The October paper examined the effects of climate change on populations of 155 species of British moths and butterflies. According to a press release from the authors’ institution, the University of York: Using data collected … Continue reading Ecologists pull paper on how climate change affects moths after model mixup

The standard in transparency? Editor praises author honesty that led to retraction in anesthesia journal

Sometimes, a junior member of the team sees things an editor-in-chief misses. Regular readers know that we’re always delighted when we get a chance to commend researchers and journals for doing the right thing. Here’s an example that sets the standard. Anesthesia & Analgesia (A&A) is retracting a 2015 paper which purportedly found important differences in patient outcomes … Continue reading The standard in transparency? Editor praises author honesty that led to retraction in anesthesia journal

Authors retract, replace highly cited JAMA Psych paper for “pervasive errors”

Authors have retracted a highly cited JAMA Psychiatry study about depression after failing to account for some patient recoveries, among other mistakes. It’s a somewhat unusual notice — it explains that the paper has been retracted and replaced with a new, corrected version. The study, which included 452 adults with major depressive disorder, concluded that cognitive therapy … Continue reading Authors retract, replace highly cited JAMA Psych paper for “pervasive errors”

NEJM quickly corrects disclosure statement, errors in diabetes paper

After publishing a paper about neuropathy in diabetic patients last week, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) immediately corrected it after editors learned of errors and some missing disclosures within the article. The notice explains that the sole author of the paper, “Diabetic Sensory and Motor Neuropathy,” reported incorrect doses for several medications, and … Continue reading NEJM quickly corrects disclosure statement, errors in diabetes paper

Physicists retract Nature paper on Earth’s core after findings aren’t reproducible

Physicists have retracted a highly cited paper from Nature on the behavior of electrons at the center of the Earth after other researchers could not reproduce their findings. The 2015 paper earned coverage in Science News and Live Science, where co-author Ronald Cohen explained: There was a big problem in how you generate a magnetic field, and now, because of our … Continue reading Physicists retract Nature paper on Earth’s core after findings aren’t reproducible

Now this is transparent: Retraction for plagiarism earns 4-page editor’s note

A journal has retracted a paper about 3D imaging after concluding the authors used equations from another researcher without attribution — and has conveniently included a detailed editorial explaining exactly what happened. It’s rare for us to see a journal be so transparent in explaining what went wrong with one of its papers, so we’re thanking … Continue reading Now this is transparent: Retraction for plagiarism earns 4-page editor’s note