The Journal of Neuroscience has slapped expressions of concern on a pair of papers linked to the maker of a controversial drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease.  As we and others have reported, Cassava Sciences has been under intense scrutiny lately. In August, the law firm Labaton Sucharow – who is representing Cassava short sellers – … Continue reading Two expressions of concern arrive for papers linked to beleaguered biotech Cassava

You might say that the third time is not the charm for a paper on some elusive fermions. For the third time this year, a leading science journal has raised concerns about a paper on the “Majorana” particle, which, if it exists, would hold promise for building a quantum computer. In March, Nature retracted a … Continue reading Another setback for ‘Majorana’ particle as Science paper earns an expression of concern

An Elsevier journal has issued an expression of concern for a paper it published earlier this year by a Dutch researcher who studies the neurobiology of sexuality. The article,“Sexual orientation, neuropsychiatric disorders and the neurotransmitters involved,” was written by a group led by Dick Swaab, of the Department of Neuropsychiatric Disorders at the Netherlands Institute … Continue reading Paper on sexual orientation and neuropsychiatric disorders earns an expression of concern

A leading heart journal has issued an expression of concern for a meeting abstract it published earlier this year by a cardiac surgeon who sells dietary supplements of questionable utility. The case is the second involving a recent meeting of the American Heart Association. The abstract, titled “Mrna COVID Vaccines Dramatically Increase Endothelial Inflammatory Markers … Continue reading Abstract linking COVID-19 vaccines to heart trouble risk earns expression of concern

A pediatrics journal has issued an expression of concern for a 2007 paper by a group of Canadian researchers whose leader, Gideon Koren, resigned in 2015 under a cloud after concerns surfaced about the integrity of the data in hundreds of his published studies.  Koren, once a prominent pediatrician and pharmacologist at the University of … Continue reading Report by former Motherisk lab director of cocaine exposure in a child is subjected to an expression of concern

A group of researchers at Washington State University has received four expressions of concern for papers whose findings underpin a publicly traded company founded by two of the most senior authors on the articles. The studies, all of which appeared in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, came from the labs of Joseph Harding, … Continue reading Four papers by Athira CEO earn expressions of concern

A marketing journal is taking heat on social media for issuing an expression of concern over a 2019 paper that many readers believe should have been retracted — and correcting another instead of retracting it. The article now subject to an expression of concern, “Role of Ambient Temperature in Influencing Willingness to Pay in Auctions … Continue reading Readers puzzle over marketing journal’s failures to retract

Less than a month after the withdrawal of a widely touted preprint claiming that ivermectin could treat COVID-19, the authors of a meta-analysis that relied heavily on the preprint say they will retract their paper. According to an expression of concern posted yesterday and announced by Paul Sax, the editor of the journal that published … Continue reading Ivermectin meta-analysis to be retracted, revised, say authors

Should a journal retract a paper when they learn that one of its authors has earned a year-long prison sentence for downloading child pornography? For Brill’s Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics the answer was no. And experts in publication ethics say that was the right call. The researcher in question is Jan Joosten, who … Continue reading Should journals retract when an author is sent to prison for a crime unrelated to their work?

Just months after Nature retracted a paper on the “Majorana” particle because other researchers found issues in the work, Science has placed an expression of concern on a different paper that suggested “a relatively easy route to creating and controlling [Majorana zero modes] MZMs in hybrid materials.” If such particles exist, they could allow Microsoft … Continue reading Science Majorana paper earns an expression of concern