‘I thought I had messed up my experiment’: How a grad student discovered an error that might affect hundreds of papers

Earlier this month, we reported on how Susanne Stoll, a graduate student in the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University College London, discovered an error that toppled a highly-cited 2014 article — and which might affect hundreds of other papers in the field of perception. We spoke with Stoll about the experience.  Retraction Watch … Continue reading ‘I thought I had messed up my experiment’: How a grad student discovered an error that might affect hundreds of papers

‘I dropped the ball’: Magic bullet falls short of target

A sports medicine journal has retracted a widely circulated 2019 meta-analysis which purported to find that interval training was the “magic bullet” for weight loss, after the analysis proved to be riddled with holes.  The paper, “Is interval training the magic bullet for fat loss? A systematic review and meta-analysis comparing moderate-intensity continuous training with … Continue reading ‘I dropped the ball’: Magic bullet falls short of target

The grad student who found a fatal error that may affect lots of papers

A team of researchers in England has retracted a 2014 paper after a graduate student affiliated with the group found a fatal error while trying to replicate parts of the work — and which might affect similar studies by other scientists, as well. The article, “Perceptual load affects spatial tuning of neuronal populations in human … Continue reading The grad student who found a fatal error that may affect lots of papers

Doing the right thing: Alcoholism researchers retract six-week old paper after finding errors

Oh, those insufferably progressive Scandinavians, always doing the right thing.   A group of alcoholism researchers in Denmark has retracted a 2020 paper on gender and alcohol treatment after finding errors in their results. And they’ve set up a system to avoid similar problems in the future.  The paper, “Gender differences in alcohol treatment,” appeared in … Continue reading Doing the right thing: Alcoholism researchers retract six-week old paper after finding errors

“Honest errors happen in science:” JAMA journal retracts paper on antidepressants

A review of scores of studies on antidepressants has been retracted because it used an incorrect analysis. The original paper, published in JAMA Psychiatry on February 19, 2020, looked at individual differences in patients taking antidepressants and concluded that there were significant differences beyond the placebo effect or the data’s statistical noise. The paper earned … Continue reading “Honest errors happen in science:” JAMA journal retracts paper on antidepressants

‘[A] disappointing situation’: Stem cell group retracts with ‘rectitude’ after error

A team of stem cell researchers at the University of Maryland has lost a 2020 paper after failing to correct an error that they’d caught prior to submission. The paper, “Endothelial/mesenchymal stem cell crosstalk within bioprinted coculture,” appeared in Tissue Engineering Part A, a Mary Ann Liebert publication. The senior author of the article was … Continue reading ‘[A] disappointing situation’: Stem cell group retracts with ‘rectitude’ after error

Doing the right thing: Researchers retract clinician burnout study after realizing their error

A journal is retracting and replacing a 2016 study which found that nearly two-thirds of clinicians who focus on end-of-life care experienced burnout, after the authors found an error that had dramatically inflated the findings.  The article, “Prevalence and predictors of burnout among hospice and palliative care clinicians in the U.S.,” appeared in the Journal … Continue reading Doing the right thing: Researchers retract clinician burnout study after realizing their error

Digging deeper: Authors retract soil paper so “the error we made does not propagate”

The authors of a 2018 paper on how much carbon soil can store have retracted the work after concluding that their analysis was fatally flawed.  The article, “Soil carbon stocks are underestimated in mountainous regions,” appeared in the journal Geoderma. Its authors are affiliated with the French National Institute for Agricultural Research. According to the … Continue reading Digging deeper: Authors retract soil paper so “the error we made does not propagate”

‘I’m starting the year off with something I didn’t expect to ever do: I’m retracting a paper.’

In journalism, we often joke that three cases of a phenomenon is a trend. If that’s the case, the trend of late 2019 and early 2020 would appear to be authors announcing retractions on Twitter. In December, Joscha Legewie took to social media to say he had been made aware of an error that had … Continue reading ‘I’m starting the year off with something I didn’t expect to ever do: I’m retracting a paper.’

Nobel winner retracts paper from Science

A Caltech researcher who shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has retracted a 2019 paper after being unable to replicate the results. Frances Arnold, who won half of the 2018 prize for her work on the evolution of enzymes, tweeted the news earlier today: The paper has been cited once, according to Clarivate Analytics’ … Continue reading Nobel winner retracts paper from Science