"Although representatives of the administration suggested they would uplift gold-standard science, they have sidelined experts, ignored evidence and spread disinformation." via @thetransmitter.bsky.social

If you're a journal or publisher using institutional email addresses to verify the identity of authors or reviewers, you'll want to read this story by @joelving.bsky.social.

"The researchers were told that unless scientific journals had already returned proofs — the final step in the academic publication process — the studies would be subject to a new review process, the two employees said."

Weekend reads: Vaccine contamination paper under investigation; Harvard sues Gino for falsifying evidence; fugitive scientist arrested

A professor of physics in Iraq was permanently dismissed last week after a government investigation found he orchestrated a massive fraudulent publishing scheme involving hundreds of thousands of dollars paid into his bank account by unwitting researchers. An exclusive from @joelving.bsky.social.

The move comes as the U.S. body tasked with making recommendations for vaccine use is scheduled to consider the safety of COVID-19 shots, and two of the study’s authors say their findings will be discussed.

Why has this microRNA review paper been cited more than 2,000 times? Our Sleuth in Residence @drg.bsky.social digs in

Exclusive: Journal bans drug safety database papers as they flood the literature FAERS is one of several publicly available datasets being exploited by paper mills, pumping hundreds of often meaningless and sometimes misleading papers into the scientific literature, @katetravis.bsky.social reports.

Drummond Rennie (1936-2025), in his own words Rennie, who died on September 12, was a towering figure in scientific publishing, known for promoting improved standards in medical journals, and for organizing the first Peer Review Congress, held in 1989, and every four years since.

Weekend reads: Stopping citation hallucinations; the ‘uncanny valley’ of predatory journals; fighting back against misconduct

A >$1 million settlement over a retraction notice in @theatlantic.com.

Learning a paper with your name on it has been published is typically something to celebrate. But for one climate scientist, a recent notification was the first he learned the manuscript even existed.

The chief executive of a university in Eastern India whose research is full of tortured phrases – possible signs of plagiarism – had two papers pulled in December after investigations found evidence of “compromised” peer review and other red flags in the publications. @joelving.bsky.social reports

An Elsevier journal has retracted a paper coauthored by a deputy department chair at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and says it plans to retract at least two more of his articles for image-related concerns.

“It was clear to me that the ‘fast-track fee’ was a euphemism for ‘bribe,’” she told us, adding that fast-tracking is “unheard of” in mathematics.

“People have been very reluctant to treat scientific fraud like other fraud.”

Weekend reads: ‘Europe’s largest paper mill?’; the ‘Paper Mill Iceberg’ of cancer research; why is Trump gutting research integrity agencies?

Iraqi university dean linked to paper mills has more than a dozen retractions @joelving.bsky.social reports

The Medical Evidence Project -- one of the six projects at our parent nonprofit, The Center For Scientific Integrity -- is hiring an intern! Work with @jamesheathers.bsky.social

Yesterday at #PRC10 there were a few calls for @publicationethics.bsky.social to revise its retraction guidelines. They did, released today. Read about the changes at @retractionwatch.com: retractionwatch.com/2025/09/04/n...

In the name of Scopus, one hijacked journal easily tricks authors A guest post from Mahmood Anwar

A journal has retracted a study on ‘Tin Man Syndrome’ plagiarized from a decade-old April Fools’ joke — which the author now admits was fake.

Papers continue to face retractions for failure to license pricy tool

"If Trump wants to eliminate fraud at universities, why gut research integrity agencies?"

Weekend reads: Lawyer sues to retract Paxil paper; most retracted papers have ‘negligible scholarly impact’; the high costs of freely available research

Embattled journal Cureus halts peer reviewer suggestions Hilda Bastian, a meta-scientist, writer and cartoonist in Australia, called the move a “backward step — it’s increasing the risk of bias in the editorial process,” she said.

Exclusive: Cancer researcher sues MD Anderson over misconduct finding

The latest retraction for Naohiro Kameta brings his total to 40, earning him a place on the Retraction Watch Leaderboard.

An Elsevier journal allowed a paper containing extensive plagiarism to remain online, while letting its authors make undisclosed revisions that masked the offense, Retraction Watch has learned. @joelving.bsky.social reports.

"How stupid has science been?" asks bioethicist Art Caplan.

Grateful that @lonnibesancon.bsky.social‬, @gcabanac.cpesr.fr, Cyril Labbe and Alexander Magazinov chose to donate the proceeds of their ASIS&T Best Paper Award for 2025 to the @elisabethbik.bsky.social Fund to support the work of sleuths. More here: centerforscientificintegrity.org/our-projects...

A 23-year-old paper has received an addendum for “possible inadvertent errors” in the figures. But a sleuth says the update doesn’t address issues with the work.

Weekend reads: ChatGPT ignores retractions; the ‘Swiss Cheese Model’ for flagging papers; plagiarism in the age of AI

PLOS One slaps four papers with expressions of concern for overlapping control data

Through this request, “Secretary Kennedy has demonstrated that he wants the scientific literature to bend to his will”, says Oransky.

Top education researcher goes to court over plagiarism claims, university review

"But sometimes you have to be like Tom Hanks in the scene near the end of Saving Private Ryan, duty-bound to fire your last six bullets at the approaching Tiger tank, in the hope that it just might explode. Occasionally the editor does step up and sends some rocket-firing P-51s.”

Authors asked Elsevier to retract papers in 2012. They’re still waiting.

Cardiology researcher in Italy up to 17 retractions, most for duplication

Weekend reads: Journal says no to RFK Jr.; another Microsoft quantum computing correction; ‘Journal Impact Nonsense’

‘Tin Man Syndrome’ case plagiarized from April Fools hoax, sleuths say

Sage journal retracts nearly 50 papers for signs of paper mill activity

Genomics pioneer George Church earns first retraction for anti-aging gene therapy paper @averyorrall.bsky.social reports

An astronomical society journal has issued its first retraction in its 10-year history — for work done by a NASA researcher and a high school student. The duo set out to confirm an astrophysics law using calculations that assumed the law was true.

"Exclusive: Medical journal rejects Kennedy's call for retraction of vaccine study"

There's good news about a victim of this misconduct at the end of this sad story. Former lab tech earns federal funding ban years after leaving science

Weekend reads: Scientific fraud at scale; upheaval inside US human protections office; vaccines-autism paper retracted

"My hope is that this prompts a conversation about what APCs are, and whether they're useful or not," Oransky said. "I don't think they are, except to the people who make a lot of money from them."

Contested paper on vaccines, autism in rats retracted by journal @martajhill.bsky.social in @thetransmitter.bsky.social

‘Biologically implausible distributions’ and self-plagiarism result in 10 retractions for ob-gyn