Search Results for: philosophy

Do you calculate if you should accept an invite to peer review? Please stop, say journal editors

Scientists are always pressed for time; still, Raphael Didham of the University Western Australia was surprised when he fell upon a group of early career scientists using a spreadsheet formula to calculate whether one was obligated to accept an invitation to review a paper, based on how many manuscripts he’d submitted for review. “I recall … Continue reading Do you calculate if you should accept an invite to peer review? Please stop, say journal editors

Weekend reads: One of the most highly cited papers ever; a pharma buys peer-reviewed praise; how to get more citations

The week at Retraction Watch featured revelations about a cancer researcher in Canada and an author’s worst nightmare come true. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Should journals abolish word limits for papers?

We’re asking ourselves that question after reading a recent paper which shows that — in the ecology literature, at least — longer papers gather more citations. In “Citations increase with manuscript length, author number, and references cited in ecology journals,” Charles Fox at the University of Kentucky and his colleagues found exactly what the title specifies … Continue reading Should journals abolish word limits for papers?

Weekend reads: Arguments for abandoning “statistically significant,” boorish behavior, and useless clinical trials

The week at Retraction Watch featured developments in the retraction of a paper claiming the dangers of GMOs, and claims of censorship by a Nature journal. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Weekend reads: ORI staff revolt?; Excel creates big typos in papers; how to reward reviewers

The week at Retraction Watch featured health care fraud charges for a researcher who committed scientific fraud, and a first-ever government agency lawsuit against a scientific publisher for deceit. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Is China using organs from executed prisoners? Researchers debate issue in the literature

A researcher is calling for the retraction of a paper about a recent ban in the use of organs from executed prisoners in China, accusing the authors of misrepresenting the state of the practice. In April 2015, a paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics welcomed the ban by the Chinese government as “a step in the right … Continue reading Is China using organs from executed prisoners? Researchers debate issue in the literature

Trump vs. trump: Does the candidate affect the use of trump cards in Bridge?

Did that headline make sense? It isn’t really supposed to – it’s a sum-up of a recent satirical paper by Columbia statistician Andrew Gelman and Jonathan Falk of NERA Economic Consulting, entitled “NO TRUMP!: A statistical exercise in priming.” The paper – which they are presenting today during the International Conference on Machine Learning in New York City – estimates … Continue reading Trump vs. trump: Does the candidate affect the use of trump cards in Bridge?

Weekend reads: Idiotic reviews; wrong metrics in China; questions about preprints

The week at Retraction Watch featured the corrections of papers claiming that conservative beliefs were linked to psychotic traits, and a new member of our leaderboard, from philosophy. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Philosopher earns 14th retraction for plagiarism

Today, we bring you a case of a serial plagiarizer. Martin W. F. Stone was a philosophy professor at the University of Leuven — by one account “widely admired and highly respected” — until 2010, when an investigation at the school concluded that his work is “highly questionable in terms of scientific integrity.” Over the past … Continue reading Philosopher earns 14th retraction for plagiarism

Finnish universities must now use courts to revoke degrees

A court in Finland has ruled that universities must go through the court system if they want to revoke a degree. In a precedent-setting decision, a body dubbed “the court of last resort in administrative cases” in Finland ruled that universities must apply to them to revoke someone’s degree. The ruling, which occurred this month, took place after a … Continue reading Finnish universities must now use courts to revoke degrees