A highly cited paper has received a major correction as a result of the ongoing battle over attitudes towards gay people, when a prominent — and polarizing — critic showed it could not be replicated. In December 2017, researchers led by Mark Hatzenbuehler of Columbia University corrected the paper, originally published in Social Science … Continue reading Study that said hate cuts 12 years off gay lives fails to replicate
Can seeing a weapon increase aggressive thoughts and behaviors? A meta-analysis on the so-called “weapons effect” has been flagged with an expression of concern by a SAGE journal, after the researchers discovered errors affecting at least one of the main conclusions. The paper found that the presence of weapons increased people’s aggressiveness, but not feelings … Continue reading After losing two video game-violence papers, co-author’s weapons paper is flagged
When economist Jason Hockenberry looked at data comparing some of the financial issues facing different U.S. hospitals, he was surprised by what he saw. Hockenberry was examining the effects of a recently introduced U.S. program that penalizes hospitals with relatively high rates of readmissions for certain conditions by reducing Medicare payments. Although Hockenberry expected hospitals … Continue reading “A gut-wrenching experience:” Authors retract, replace JAMA paper
After a publisher learned there may be issues with a 2008 diabetes paper, it asked the author’s university to investigate. The university found evidence of image duplication, and asked the journal to consider correcting the paper. Instead, the journal has retracted it. The backstory involves diabetes researcher Kathrin Maedler, who has one previous retraction, as … Continue reading University suggests journal correct diabetes paper. Publisher retracts it.
A few months ago, a researcher told Evelien Oostdijk there might be a problem with a 2014 JAMA study she had co-authored. The study had compared two methods of preventing infection in the intensive care unit (ICU). But a separate analysis had produced different results. Oostdijk, from the University Medical Center Utrecht in The Netherlands, immediately … Continue reading “Think of the unthinkable:” JAMA retraction prompts author to urge others to share data
When an ecologist realized he’d made a fatal error in a 2009 paper, he did the right thing: He immediately contacted the journal (Evolutionary Ecology Research) to ask for a retraction. But he didn’t stop there: He wrote a detailed blog post outlining how he learned — in October 2016, after a colleague couldn’t recreate … Continue reading “A sinking feeling in my gut:” Diary of a retraction
A journal is reviewing a paper about trends in rape at U.S. colleges after the author realized a mistake. Although the journal Violence and Gender hasn’t issued any editorial notice about the paper, Inside Higher Ed published a correction July 14 to its original news story about the topic. “Dangerous Colleges: Associations Between School-Level Factors and the Risk … Continue reading Journal taking second look at paper on campus rape
Remember last week, when JAMA replaced an article about the impact of moving homes on kids’ mental health after discovering some errors in the analysis? We’re going to see more of these somewhat unusual notices coming out of JAMA journals in the near future – the JAMA Network journals may issue more “retract and replace” … Continue reading Retract – and replace? JAMA may expand use of this tool
A graduate student at the University of Oregon in Eugene has admitted to faking data that appeared in four published papers in the field of visual working memory, according to the Office of Research Integrity. David Anderson’s supervisor at the time was Edward Awh, who has since moved to the University of Chicago. Anderson told Retraction Watch … Continue reading Oregon grad student admits to faking data in four neuroscience papers
Genome Biology has partially retracted a high-profile paper about an epigenetic biomarker of aging – a year and a half after the author alerted the journal to a software coding error that invalidated one of its findings. The paper, “DNA methylation age of human tissues and cell types,” garnered some media coverage and forms the basis … Continue reading High-profile aging paper posts old erratum, requested by author more than one year prior