Avery Orrall

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…

@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.

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…

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.

Exclusive: Journal to retract Alzheimer’s study after investigation finds misconduct A journal says it will retract a 2019 paper on an Alzheimer’s treatment after an institutional investigation found research misconduct, according to emails seen by Retraction Watch. The move …

A journal says it will retract a 2019 paper on an Alzheimer’s treatment after an institutional investigation found research misconduct, according to emails seen by Retraction Watch.

A peer-reviewed paper claimed a researcher was an expert in sex robots. He’s not. 3dalia/iStock What would you do if you discovered your name in a list of experts on sex robots despite having never studied sex robots?  That was the situation for one rather panicked research…

What would you do if you discovered your name in a list of experts on sex robots despite having never studied sex robots?

‘Tin Man Syndrome’ case plagiarized from hoax, sleuths say A comparison of the images and an overlay, provided by a sleuth. On April Fools’ Day 10 years ago, radiologist Matt Skalski took part in a website’s annual challenge to prank the radiology communit…

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

Genomics pioneer George Church earns first retraction for anti-aging gene therapy paper George Church A paper coauthored by geneticist George Church has been retracted following an internal review at a university where several coauthors are based. The article appeared in the Proceedin…

Genomics pioneer George Church earns first retraction for anti-aging gene therapy paper

@averyorrall.bsky.social reports

Happy 15th anniversary, Retraction Watch Once upon a time, a long time ago, two science journalists had an idea for a blog about retractions. And on Aug. 3, 2010, Retraction Watch launched, detailing in the first post why retractions matt…

Once upon a time, two science journalists had an idea for a blog about retractions. And on Aug. 3, 2010, Retraction Watch launched.

And now, 15 years and 6,700 posts later, that work seems more important than ever.

Happy 15th anniversary, Retraction Watch.

My latest for JAMA!

Clarivate to stop counting citations to retracted articles in journals’ impact factors Clarivate will no longer include citations to and from retracted papers when calculating journal impact factors, the company announced today.  The change comes after some have wondered over th…

"Clarivate will no longer include citations to and from retracted papers when calculating journal impact factors, the company announced today."

@averyorrall.bsky.social via @retractionwatch.com

retractionwatch.com/2025/05/15/c...

My latest!

Do men or women retract more? A study found the answer is … complicated A new study compares retraction rates between men and women. Pexels Longtime Retraction Watch readers know the scientists on our Leaderboard have changed over the years. But one characteristic has …

Do men or women retract more? A study found the answer is … complicated

A ‘joke’: Paper with ‘completely irrelevant’ citations retracted A paper that made the rounds last year for its blatantly “irrelevant” citations has now been retracted.  Elsevier’s International Journal of Hydrogen Energy published “Origin of the distinct s…

A ‘joke’: Paper with ‘completely irrelevant’ citations retracted

My latest for JAMA!

Editorial board resigns after journal cancels special issue on Palestine The editorial board of an architecture journal has resigned after its parent association cancelled an upcoming theme issue titled “Palestine.”   The Journal of Architectural Education pla…

On February 28, the nonprofit Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, which owns the journal, released a statement saying it was halting the issue for increased risks due to “new actions by the U.S. federal administration.”

Five studies from “Bust Size and Hitchhiking” author retracted A journal has retracted five papers about the appearance, sexual behavior and attractiveness of women.  Nicolas Guéguen, a professor of marketing at the Université de Bretagne-Sud in France, w…

Five studies from “Bust Size and Hitchhiking” author retracted

@averyorrall.bsky.social reports

Author forges document to claim USDA affiliation A journal has retracted three papers after an investigation revealed one of the authors falsely claimed he was affiliated with the United States Department of Agriculture. All three retraction noti…

A journal has retracted three papers after an investigation revealed one of the authors falsely claimed he was affiliated with the United States Department of Agriculture.

Paper on conversion therapy retracted, authors planning to republish D. Paul Sullins A four-year-old paper claiming conversion therapy reduced same-sex thoughts in gay men has been retracted after criticism from other researchers prompted further review of the work.…

A four-year-old paper claiming conversion therapy reduced same-sex thoughts in gay men has been retracted after criticism from other researchers prompted further review of the work.

Two papers coauthored by a dean retracted, with a third in question Two papers on a novel approach for flood prediction have been retracted for “substantial overlap” between the works. The authors, including Debopam Acharya, dean of the School of Computing at DIT U…

Two papers coauthored by a dean in India retracted, with a third in question

@averyorrall.bsky.social reports

As Springer Nature journal clears AI papers, one university’s retractions rise drastically Neurosurgical Review has begun retracting scores of commentaries and  letters to the editor after getting inundated by AI-generated manuscripts. At the top of the affiliations list: Saveetha U…

At publication time, Neurosurgical Review had retracted 129 papers so far this year. The journal, a Springer Nature publication, paused acceptance of letters to the editor and commentaries last fall.

@averyorrall.bsky.social reports

Anatomy of a retraction: When cleaning up the literature takes six years Dario Alessi In 2018, a biochemist in Scotland became aware of image irregularities in two of his papers through comments on PubPeer, each in a different journal. The researcher, Dario Alessi, a pr…

Anatomy of a retraction: When cleaning up the literature takes six years

@averyorrall.bsky.social reports

Journal updates retraction notice to include plagiarism following Retraction Watch report The editor-in-chief of a journal updated a retraction notice to acknowledge the data in the paper were “completely plagiarized” following allegations in a letter to the editor that were the subject…

Journal updates retraction notice to include plagiarism following Retraction Watch report

@averyorrall.bsky.social reports

Paper retracted after author told journal study was ‘not actually performed’ Nearly 20 years after the publication of a paper on phytoestrogens in postmenopausal women, one of the authors said the study had never been performed, according to a recently published retraction …

"The corresponding author did not reply to inquiries; however, one of the coauthors did respond and admitted that the study published above was not actually performed."

@averyorrall.bsky.social reports

L.A. Fire-Fueling Winds Slow Down, Offering a Short Reprieve. What Are the Santa Ana Winds, and Why Do They Fan the Flames? The seasonal gusts have exacerbated the deadly fires, and they’re expected to pick back up next week

I’ll be writing daily stories for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social’s Smart News section this month! Read my latest to learn more about the Santa Ana winds 💨

Sage slaps more than 100 papers from one journal with expressions of concern The Sage journal American Surgeon has issued a mass expression of concern for 116 articles.  The expression of concern states the journal “was made aware” of “concerning author activity” on th…

Sage slaps more than 100 papers from one journal with expressions of concern

@averyorrall.bsky.social reports

✍️Science Writing News Roundup #223 How—and Why—to Write a Science News Release + Climate and health: Stories to watch in 2025.

Climate and health: Stories to watch in 2025 + Meet @retractionwatch.com’s two new journalists: Managing editor @katetravis.bsky.social , and reporter @averyorrall.bsky.social: sciencewriting.substack.com/p/science-wr...

#science #sciencewriting #climate #health

The 14 universities with publication metrics researchers say are too good to be true Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences More than a dozen universities have used “questionable authorship practices” to inflate their publication metrics, authors of a new study say. O…

The 14 universities with publication metrics researchers say are too good to be true

@averyorrall.bsky.social reports

Meet Retraction Watch’s two new journalists Please join us in welcoming two new Retraction Watch staff members: Managing editor Kate Travis, and reporter Avery Orrall.

Please join us in welcoming two new Retraction Watch staff members: Managing editor @katetravis.bsky.social, and reporter Avery Orrall.