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Mistakes happen in research papers. But corrections often don’t

January 10, 2023

STAT

By Amber Castillo

"Mistakes happen — in life, in the lab, and, inevitably, in research papers, too. Journals use corrections and retractions to resolve those mistakes. But one particularly high-profile case is now drawing fresh attention to the problems with journals’ process for addressing concerns about research integrity.

Late last year, Stanford University announced that it was opening an investigation into its president, neuroscientist Marc Tessier-Lavigne, over allegations of research misconduct. Five studies co-authored by Tessier-Lavigne are now under the microscope for containing alleged altered images: a 1999 Cell study, a 2008 paper in the EMBO Journal, a 2003 Nature study, and two studies published in 2001 in Science."

Multimillion-dollar trade in paper authorships alarms publishers

Journals have begun retracting publications with suspicious links to sites trading in author positions.

January 18, 2023

Nature

By Holly Else

"Research-integrity sleuths have uncovered hundreds of online advertisements that offer the chance to buy authorship on research papers to be published in reputable journals.

Publishers are investigating the claims, and have retracted dozens of articles over suspicions that people have paid to be named as authors, despite not participating in the research. Integrity specialists warn that the problem is growing, and say that other retractions are likely to follow."