Retraction Watch
@retractionwatch.com
A project of The Center For Scientific Integrity https://centerforscientificintegrity.org/
Daily newsletter http://eepurl.com/bNRlUn
Database http://retractiondatabase.org
Tips [email protected] (better than @ replies)
Daily newsletter http://eepurl.com/bNRlUn
Database http://retractiondatabase.org
Tips [email protected] (better than @ replies)
Weekend reads: Our cofounder credited in fake citation; ‘Substantial’ undisclosed COIs in psychiatry research; an AI threat to online surveys
Weekend reads: Our cofounder credited in fake citation; ‘Substantial’ undisclosed COIs in psychiatry research; an AI threat to online surveys
Computing society pulls works for ‘citation falsification’ months after sleuth is convicted of defamation Research integrity conference hit with AI-generated abstracts AI unreliable in identifying …
retractionwatch.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Weekend reads: Our cofounder credited in fake citation; ‘Substantial’ undisclosed COIs in psychiatry research; an AI threat to online surveys
Exclusive: Reviewer recommended against publishing paper on DNA in COVID vaccines
Exclusive: Reviewer recommended against publishing paper on DNA in COVID vaccines
Rolf Marschalek was on vacation when he saw a new paper had been published in the journal Autoimmunity. Marschalek, a biochemist at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, was “very upset,” he told…
retractionwatch.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Exclusive: Reviewer recommended against publishing paper on DNA in COVID vaccines
A Science journal has issued an expression of concern over questions about the data in a paper reporting the discovery of an antibody that neutralized all COVID-19 variants in mice.
COVID-19 paper by scientists at Harvard, Duke gets expression of concern for ‘unreliable’ data
A Science journal has issued an expression of concern over questions about the data in a paper reporting the discovery of an antibody that neutralized all COVID-19 variants in mice. The article app…
retractionwatch.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:17 PM
A Science journal has issued an expression of concern over questions about the data in a paper reporting the discovery of an antibody that neutralized all COVID-19 variants in mice.
Springer Nature flags paper with fabricated reference to article (not) written by our cofounder
Springer Nature flags paper with fabricated reference to article (not) written by our cofounder
Tips we get about papers and books citing fake references have skyrocketed this year, tracking closely with the rise of ChatGPT and other generative large language models. One in particular hit clo…
retractionwatch.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Springer Nature flags paper with fabricated reference to article (not) written by our cofounder
A paper on a clinical trial of metformin for the treatment of COVID-19 has been retracted nearly two years after the authors flagged data issues that resulted in an expression of concern. It joins our list of more than 600 retracted COVID-19 papers.
Lancet journal retracts COVID-19 metformin paper nearly 2 years after authors request correction
A paper on a clinical trial of metformin for the treatment of COVID-19 has been retracted nearly two years after the authors flagged data issues that resulted in an expression of concern. The…
retractionwatch.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:34 PM
A paper on a clinical trial of metformin for the treatment of COVID-19 has been retracted nearly two years after the authors flagged data issues that resulted in an expression of concern. It joins our list of more than 600 retracted COVID-19 papers.
Not only were the chatbots unreliable at correctly identifying retracted papers, they spit out different results when given the same prompts.
AI unreliable in identifying retracted research papers, says study
LLMs don’t reliably identify retracted papers, a new study finds. (Image: DALL-E) Large language models should not be used to weed out retracted literature, a study of 21 chatbots concludes. …
retractionwatch.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Not only were the chatbots unreliable at correctly identifying retracted papers, they spit out different results when given the same prompts.
In an ironic and possibly predictable turn of events, the conference has received “an unusually large proportion” of off-topic abstracts that show signs of being written by generative AI.
Research integrity conference hit with AI-generated abstracts
The first of three themes for next year’s World Conference on Research Integrity will be the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence for research integrity. In an ironic and possibly predicta…
retractionwatch.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:06 PM
In an ironic and possibly predictable turn of events, the conference has received “an unusually large proportion” of off-topic abstracts that show signs of being written by generative AI.
An international computing society has begun retracting conference papers for “citation falsification” only months after the sleuth who flagged the suspect articles was convicted for defamation in a lawsuit filed by one of the offending authors.
Computing society pulls works for ‘citation falsification’ months after sleuth is convicted of defamation
Solal Pirelli An international computing society has begun retracting conference papers for “citation falsification” only months after the sleuth who flagged the suspect articles was convicted for …
retractionwatch.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:32 PM
An international computing society has begun retracting conference papers for “citation falsification” only months after the sleuth who flagged the suspect articles was convicted for defamation in a lawsuit filed by one of the offending authors.
A paper critiquing post-publication peer review has numerous made-up references, including a @nature.com article falsely attributed to our Ivan Oransky.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
PubPeer - An expert criticism on post-publication peer review platform...
There are comments on PubPeer for publication: An expert criticism on post-publication peer review platforms: the case of pubpeer (2025)
pubpeer.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:11 AM
A paper critiquing post-publication peer review has numerous made-up references, including a @nature.com article falsely attributed to our Ivan Oransky.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Weekend reads: Debunking ‘When Prophecy Fails’; ‘Godfather of AI’ first to reach 1 million citations; ‘Cake causes herpes?’
Weekend reads: Debunking ‘When Prophecy Fails’; ‘Godfather of AI’ first to reach 1 million citations; ‘Cake causes herpes?’
Author changes name, publishes 10 papers in journals that banned him Bug in Springer Nature metadata may be causing ‘significant, systemic’ citation inflation Math is back as Clarivate boosts integ…
retractionwatch.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Weekend reads: Debunking ‘When Prophecy Fails’; ‘Godfather of AI’ first to reach 1 million citations; ‘Cake causes herpes?’
How did a trio of botanists end up writing a case report about oral cancer?
Botanists plant a stake in oral cancer research with case report, now under investigation
Elsevier is investigating a case report of a person with aggressive cancer, written by three plant researchers working far afield of their specialty. The three authors of the study, published…
retractionwatch.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:11 PM
How did a trio of botanists end up writing a case report about oral cancer?
The @ama-assn.org will cease publication of its ethics journal at the end of this year.
AMA ethics journal shutters after 26 years
The American Medical Association will cease publication of its ethics journal at the end of this year. The AMA Journal of Ethics, an open access, peer-reviewed journal was founded in 1999 und…
retractionwatch.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:07 AM
The @ama-assn.org will cease publication of its ethics journal at the end of this year.
@bmj.com has issued an expression of concern for a paper claiming stem cell therapy can reduce the risk of heart failure. The move comes after sleuths and scientists critiqued the “complete mismatch” between the study data and the article itself.
BMJ places expression of concern on heavily criticized stem cell paper
The BMJ has issued an expression of concern for a paper claiming stem cell therapy can reduce the risk of heart failure. The move comes after sleuths and scientists critiqued the “complete mismatch…
retractionwatch.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:33 PM
@bmj.com has issued an expression of concern for a paper claiming stem cell therapy can reduce the risk of heart failure. The move comes after sleuths and scientists critiqued the “complete mismatch” between the study data and the article itself.
Bug in Springer Nature metadata may be causing ‘significant, systemic’ citation inflation
Bug in Springer Nature metadata may be causing ‘significant, systemic’ citation inflation
Millions of researchers could be affected by a “dramatic distortion of citation counts” likely caused by flaws in how the academic publishing giant Springer Nature handles article metadata, accordi…
retractionwatch.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Bug in Springer Nature metadata may be causing ‘significant, systemic’ citation inflation
How to render a publishing ban moot? Change your surname and just keep submitting.
Author changes name, publishes 10 papers in journals that banned him
How to render a publishing ban moot? Change your surname and just keep submitting. That’s what happened in the case of Hashem Babaei, aka Hashem Gharababaei. In 2010, the Institution of Mechanical …
retractionwatch.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:39 PM
How to render a publishing ban moot? Change your surname and just keep submitting.
Weekend reads: Journal retracts ADHD intervention papers; ‘Science and the crisis of trust’; letters to editors surge
Weekend reads: Journal retracts ADHD intervention papers; ‘Science and the crisis of trust’; letters to editors surge
Former Australian science agency ecology researcher loses two papers Dozens of board members resign from big-data journal after mass staff firings Review mill in Italy targeting ob-gyn journals, re…
retractionwatch.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Weekend reads: Journal retracts ADHD intervention papers; ‘Science and the crisis of trust’; letters to editors surge
An Elsevier journal has retracted a study on the placebo effect coauthored by a researcher known for extreme claims that have failed to withstand scrutiny. The move comes after critics said the researchers misunderstood “what a ‘treatment effect’ is.”
Journal retracts ‘bizarre’ placebo effect paper
An Elsevier journal has retracted a study on the placebo effect coauthored by a researcher known for extreme claims that have failed to withstand scrutiny. The move comes after critics said the res…
retractionwatch.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:52 PM
An Elsevier journal has retracted a study on the placebo effect coauthored by a researcher known for extreme claims that have failed to withstand scrutiny. The move comes after critics said the researchers misunderstood “what a ‘treatment effect’ is.”
"When science is perceived as aligned with political agendas, or when episodes of scientific misconduct receive high-profile media coverage, the legitimacy of science can be damaged, even if such cases are rare."
Science and the crisis of trust
Science today operates in an environment increasingly described as a crisis of trust, where confidence in institutions has eroded and consensus over t…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:45 AM
"When science is perceived as aligned with political agendas, or when episodes of scientific misconduct receive high-profile media coverage, the legitimacy of science can be damaged, even if such cases are rare."
A week after @bmj.com published a highly publicized paper claiming stem cell therapy can reduce the risk of heart failure, sleuths have unearthed what they are calling “serious” inconsistencies in the data.
Sleuths flag ‘complete mismatch’ in data of BMJ stem cell study
A week after The BMJ published a highly publicized paper claiming stem cell therapy can reduce the risk of heart failure, sleuths have unearthed what they are calling “serious” inconsistencies in t…
retractionwatch.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:59 PM
A week after @bmj.com published a highly publicized paper claiming stem cell therapy can reduce the risk of heart failure, sleuths have unearthed what they are calling “serious” inconsistencies in the data.
Exclusive: Forced to change labs, Kim lost a scholarship and a job offer, and had to repay about AU$90,000 (US$58,400) to his sponsor in South Korea. The university has since offered Kim AU$15,000 (US$9,750) after he sought compensation — although without admitting culpability.
Exclusive: A misconduct ruling, a flawed investigation, and an attempted payoff
University of Melbourne In April 2019, Daejung Kim, then a Ph.D. student at the University of Melbourne in Australia, found a draft manuscript on the desk of a postdoc in the same laboratory. The m…
retractionwatch.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Exclusive: Forced to change labs, Kim lost a scholarship and a job offer, and had to repay about AU$90,000 (US$58,400) to his sponsor in South Korea. The university has since offered Kim AU$15,000 (US$9,750) after he sought compensation — although without admitting culpability.
A network of peer reviewers in Italy is targeting medical journals, threatening “both the scientific record and patient safety,” a team of researchers including @deevybee.bsky.social report.
Review mill in Italy targeting ob-gyn journals, researchers allege
Examples of “boilerplate” text used in the suspect reviews.M.A. Oviedo-Garcia et al/medRxiv 2025 A network of peer reviewers in Italy is targeting medical journals, threatening “both the scientific…
retractionwatch.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:54 PM
A network of peer reviewers in Italy is targeting medical journals, threatening “both the scientific record and patient safety,” a team of researchers including @deevybee.bsky.social report.
More than three-fifths of the editorial board of a @gigascience.bsky.social resigned after the publication’s operations moved from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, China, and the editors and software team were fired with 30 days’ notice.
Dozens of board members resign from big-data journal after mass staff firings
More than three-fifths of the editorial board of a biomedical sciences journal resigned after the publication’s operations moved from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, China, and the editors and software team…
retractionwatch.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:30 PM
More than three-fifths of the editorial board of a @gigascience.bsky.social resigned after the publication’s operations moved from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, China, and the editors and software team were fired with 30 days’ notice.
Former Australian science agency ecology researcher loses two papers
Former Australian science agency ecology researcher loses two papers
One of the retracted papers proposed an epigenetic clock to estimate the age of sea turtles.Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) A molecular ecology researcher has lost two papers and …
retractionwatch.com
November 2, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Former Australian science agency ecology researcher loses two papers
Weekend reads: Another CDC journal in trouble; Web of Science company endorses Iraq awards; on the scarcity of peer reviewers
Weekend reads: Another CDC journal in trouble; Web of Science company endorses Iraq awards; on the scarcity of peer reviewers
Embattled journal Cureus delisted from Web of Science, loses impact factor ‘A new low’: Researchers at Iraqi university must cite colleagues, school journals in papers Challenge accepted: A reader …
retractionwatch.com
November 1, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Weekend reads: Another CDC journal in trouble; Web of Science company endorses Iraq awards; on the scarcity of peer reviewers
@clarivate.com says it takes retractions into account when calculating its highly coveted researcher designations. But Qusay Hassan, who has had 21 papers retracted, was one of several scientists winning accolades at the ministry’s Iraq Education Conference 2025 in Baghdad earlier this month.
Exclusive: Web of Science company involved in dubious awards in Iraq
Hayder A. Dhahad, Iraq’s deputy minister for scientific research affairs, speaks at an awards ceremony at the country’s Science Day celebration. Source: Instagram In the string of prestigious…
retractionwatch.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:08 AM
@clarivate.com says it takes retractions into account when calculating its highly coveted researcher designations. But Qusay Hassan, who has had 21 papers retracted, was one of several scientists winning accolades at the ministry’s Iraq Education Conference 2025 in Baghdad earlier this month.