August 29, 2024 — It is a pain to sort through the errors that find their way into research publications. Even more painful is the experience of having to retract flawed publications. So when the Editor in Chief of Childhood Obesity retracted a fundamentally flawed, cluster-randomized trial, we see a reason to celebrate. Errors that involve clustering designs in […]
December 22, 2023 — The year we are now closing marks a new record in retractions of research papers – more than 10,000 in a single year. Reporting for Nature, Richard Van Norden provides details about this milestone in research integrity. Does this impressive number mark progress? Or merely signal that the challenge of research integrity is enormous? A […]
December 12, 2023 — An amicable discussion about evidence for the effectiveness of soft drink taxes can be, well, somewhat taxing. Scientists with genuine curiosity about this subject often seem harder to find than true believers. But disappointment has come for those true believers. Because some of the evidence to back their firm beliefs in soft drink taxes recently […]
October 21, 2023 — “Swift and decisive” was the decision by the Editor-in-Chief of Nutrition and Health. This is how Luis-Enrique Becerra-Garcia described the response to errors in a publication on educating women with obesity about ultra-processed foods. The authors had claimed to find significant effects on weight, quality of life, pain, and metabolic syndrome. Becerra-Garcia and colleagues found […]
August 1, 2023 — What is it about research into honesty that attracts such problems? Retractions of papers about honesty in human behavior are multiplying like tribbles. Harvard is seeking retraction of three papers written by a star of behavioral research – Professor Francesca Gino. Her research was all about honesty. This is the most recent of a series […]
July 21, 2023 — The President of Stanford University, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, announced his resignation this week, following a review of his research that concluded some of it “fell below customary standards of scientific rigor and process.” If you entertain any doubt about the importance of attention to scientific rigor and integrity, this should resolve it. Retractions and Corrections After […]
October 7, 2022 — Publishing research and academic journals is a business that is both important and highly profitable. The business model for this industry could be a whole post of its own, but it’s worth noting that just four companies publish more than half of the world’s academic papers. Elsevier alone published more than half a million peer-reviewed […]
February 7, 2022 — Throwing in some flaxseed seems like a good way to paint a health halo. Right now, our pantry has an open box of multigrain crackers with whole wheat and flaxseed. Sounds healthy, tastes good. But on the other hand, we’ve noted that not all of the research about the marvelous health benefits of flaxseed stands […]
March 9, 2021 — We are learning in so many ways that it’s hard to shake a cult. It might be a cult of personality or a cult around a theory. Right now, one that seems unshakable is the cult of vitamin D. With a frequency that seems daily, we see new studies proclaiming that vitamin D levels predict […]
