Retraction Watch

The Ctrl-Z Award - The Center For Scientific Integrity The Ctrl-Z Award is designed to recognize and celebrate scientists who identify substantial errors in their own published work and take proactive, meaningful steps to correct the scientific record, ev...

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We're thrilled to announce the Ctrl-Z Award, a US$2,500 prize for researchers “who discover substantial errors in their published work and take meaningful steps to correct the scientific record."
Covered by @nature.com today; read more here: centerforscientificintegrity.org/2026/03/10/a...

Stolen economics study retracted following Retraction Watch coverage An economics study that was stolen and had its authorship slots sold by a paper mill has been retracted.  The move follows our reporting in January about a researcher in India who took to soci…

A researcher told us at the time that a post he found on Telegram offered authorship slots on S’s study for less than $200 apiece.

Weekend reads: The LLMs ‘willing to commit academic fraud’; ‘peer replication’ instead of review; a ‘spam filter’ for predatory journals If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Preprint server removes study attributing increased infant mortality …

Weekend reads: The LLMs ‘willing to commit academic fraud’; ‘peer replication’ instead of review; a ‘spam filter’ for predatory journals

Librarian finds ‘preposterous number’ of fake references in paper from Springer Nature journal Gunnar Ridderström/Pexels As a hospital librarian, Jessica Waite is typically successful at tracking down elusive articles for clinicians at Royal Hallamshire Hospital in England. So when a colleag…

“I was really shocked that an article published in a Springer journal and which presumably had gone through a peer or editorial review could have such a high number of references to hallucinated articles. I can see how one or two may slip through the net, but this was a preposterous number.”

Publisher demands $500 from impersonated author to retract paper Last year, we wrote about a Walsh Medical Media journal that refused to withdraw an author’s paper unless he paid a fee — even though he didn’t write or submit the article. For one reader, some det…

Sure, we'll retract that paper we published that someone else faked your name on.

Just pay us $500.

Controversial comet theory struck by two new retractions In a now-retracted paper, the authors report they found shocked quartz formed by an airburst from clouds of comet fragments that hit earth more than 12,000 years ago. Source PLOS One has retracted …

“The chronic ongoing problem, for nearly two decades, is that the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis proponents withhold the evidence they claim to have. When independent scientists ask to see it — in the form of materials, for example — we are attacked for ‘suggesting fraud.’”: @boslough.bsky.social

A medical journal says the case reports it has published for 25 years are, in fact, fiction A Canadian journal has issued corrections on 138 case reports it published over the last 25 years to add a disclaimer: The cases described are fictional. Paediatrics & Child Health, the journal…

A Canadian journal has issued corrections on 138 case reports it published over the last 25 years to add a disclaimer:

The cases described are fictional.

Our Ivan Oransky sat down with @outofthelabpod.bsky.social to talk about retractions -- and why they don't have to cause career damage. He also managed to complain about the lack of air conditioning in Switzerland.

Preprint server removes study attributing increased infant mortality to vaccines Alachua County/Flickr A preprint server has withdrawn a study that suggested children vaccinated in the second month of life are more likely to die soon after when compared to those who did not rec…

A preprint server has withdrawn a Children's Health Defense study that suggested children vaccinated in the second month of life are more likely to die soon after when compared to those who did not receive the vaccinations.

Weekend reads: Institute to stop paying fees for some OA journals; sleuths’ tips for spotting fraud; Bayer sues J&J over ‘false and misleading claims’ If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Journal retracts GLP-1 study after researcher questions central findi…

Weekend reads: Institute to stop paying fees for some OA journals; sleuths’ tips for spotting fraud; Bayer sues J&J over ‘false and misleading claims’

Researcher ‘honestly shocked’ to discover name on paper, editor claims misunderstanding While reviewing her Google Scholar profile to prepare a list of her publications, psychologist Maryam Farhang came across a paper she didn’t recognize.  The article, in the Journal of Research…

While reviewing her Google Scholar profile to prepare a list of her publications, psychologist Maryam Farhang came across a paper she didn’t recognize.

The article included her name and affiliation, but shevhadn’t written or contributed to the paper in any way.

Announcing the Retraction Watch Research Accountability Reporting Fellowship - The Open Notebook The Open Notebook and Retraction Watch are thrilled to announce a new fellowship program funded by The Center for Scientific Integrity. This six-month program will equip up to six reporters and editor...

We and @theopennotebook.bsky.social are thrilled to announce The Retraction Watch Research Accountability Reporting Fellowship!

-- $7,500 in funding to support reporting
-- One-to-one mentoring support
-- Four virtual trainings

Find out more here:

Exclusive: Unrest at Wiley journal whose EIC is cited in more than half of its papers Timothy Lee (center) of Macau University of Science and Technology was named editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Tourism Research in 2023. On Feb. 18, a researcher in Italy sent a disgr…

“Maybe, I would have been treated better if I had cited some of the editor in chief’s papers,” Bimonte, of the University of Siena, wrote in boldface in the email, which we have seen. Two days later, an unhappy editor at the journal quit, Retraction Watch has learned.

Heart researcher asked to attend remedial training after OSU misconduct finding, report reveals In a move one research ethics expert called “odd,” a university asked one of its professors to attend a remedial integrity course — despite their “significant concerns” the training would have any …

In a move one research ethics expert called “odd,” a university asked one of its professors to attend a remedial integrity course — despite their “significant concerns” the training would have any impact following findings of misconduct.

Chemist nears three dozen retractions for image duplication, self-citation and more A screenshot of Louis’ LinkedIn profile before we reached out to him. Racking up 35 retractions in just 24 months, chemist Hitler Louis has scored a place on our leaderboard.  The papers…

Racking up 35 retractions in just 24 months, chemist Hitler Louis has scored a place on our leaderboard.

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Journal retracts GLP-1 study after researcher questions central finding Image: iStock After reading a recent study about GLP-1 treatment in the International Journal of Obesity, David B. Allison immediately became skeptical about the paper’s analysis. The article, publ…

After reading a recent study about GLP-1 treatment in the International Journal of Obesity, David B. Allison immediately became skeptical about the paper’s analysis.

Weekend reads: Did a prof invent his own ‘Nobel Prize’?; former dean omits pharma ties; AI generated quotes found in now-retracted article on AI If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Nature journal retracts two papers by immunology researchers for imag…

Weekend reads: Did a prof invent his own ‘Nobel Prize’?; former dean omits pharma ties; AI generated quotes found in now-retracted article on AI

Publisher flags more than 120 papers three and a half years after learning of problems What started as a small editorial conundrum several years ago has turned into an expression of concern for dozens of papers in a medical journal, thanks to the work of an Australian physician and s…

A Retraction Watch story left one reader intrigued. “I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said John Loadsman of the University of Sydney, an anesthesiologist and journal editor. “I thought, I’ve got to have a look.”

Porn addiction recovery group sues publisher, UCLA researcher over critical paper An online peer support group for people overcoming addiction to pornography has filed a lawsuit against the authors of a paper critical of the group, as well as the publisher Taylor & Francis, …

A porn addiction recovery group has accused publisher Taylor & Francis of intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy and racketeering, along with eight other claims.

Notice of Meeting - SRSR (45-1) - No. 26 - House of Commons of Canada Notice of Meeting - SRSR (45-1) - No. 26 - House of Commons of Canada

Our Ivan Oransky is honored to be testifying Monday at the Canadian Parliament House of Commons' Standing Committee on Science and Research on "Governance and Accountability of Federal Science Policy and Institutions." Tune in.

Correction to a retraction highlights tortured phrases have been around longer than LLMs Corrections to retractions have also been around longer than AI tools like the one that created this image. DALL-E While large language models are taking the blame for hallucinations, punctuation a…

Sage issued a correction to its retraction in January, stating the original notice “incorrectly cited the origin of tortured phrases to the use of a large language model.”

Gynecologists in Italy collect more retractions and an expression of concern A group of gynecologists in Italy has tallied yet another retraction, this time for an article with “significant overlap” with the methods, data and text of an older paper that shares two of the sa…

In 2024, Di Renzo threatened legal action over a critic’s allegations about data duplications among several papers he coauthored — many of which have since been retracted.

Nature journal retracts two papers by immunology researchers for image duplication A Nature journal has retracted a decades-old immunology paper that has been cited more than 1,000 times and, the author claims, spurred the development of new drugs.  The paper on antibody diversit…

A Nature journal has retracted a decades-old immunology paper that has been cited more than 1,000 times and, the author claims, spurred the development of new drugs.

Retracted coronavirus (COVID-19) papers via CDC We’ve been tracking retractions of papers about COVID-19 as part of our database. Here’s a running list, which will be updated as needed. (For some context on these figures, see…

Our list of retracted COVID-19 papers is up to just shy of 650, representing about 1% of all retracted papers in the Retraction Watch Database.

Weekend reads: CDC’s ‘unethical’ vaccine trial; The Lancet ‘refuses to retract’ letter; on the methods used to correct science If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Journal tags ‘impossible’ case report with short erratum Guest post: …

Weekend reads: CDC’s ‘unethical’ vaccine trial; The Lancet ‘refuses to retract’ letter; on the methods used to correct science

As journal’s retraction count nears 170, it enhances vetting A journal is implementing tighter controls for guest editors and peer reviewers after an investigation led to the retraction of more than 160 articles.  As we reported last month, the American…

A journal is implementing tighter controls for guest editors and peer reviewers after an investigation led to the retraction of more than 160 articles.

Court challenge could chill reporting of research fraud, say whistleblower attorneys utah778/iStock The U.S. government recently announced a record $6.8 billion in False Claims Act settlements and judgments in 2025, the most in a single year since the law’s enactment 163 years ago.…

Despite the False Claims Act's banner year, legal experts say a pending challenge may weaken the law’s whistleblower power and impact.