Link between misconduct and retractions 'bigger than thought'

The study, published yesterday in 바카라사이트 Proceedings of 바카라사이트 National Academy of Sciences, concludes that just over 67 per cent of retractions in recent decades are attributable to misconduct or suspected misconduct. This amounts to three quarters of retractions whose cause is known.

More than 43 per cent of all retractions were attributable to fraud or suspected fraud, while duplicate publication accounted for 14 per cent and plagiarism for 10 per cent.

Only 21 per cent of retractions were attributable to error.

The study was carried out by Arturo Casadevell, a professor at 바카라사이트 Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York; Ferric Fang, professor of microbiology at 바카라사이트 University of Washington, and medical communications consultant Grant Steen. The former two authors are both journal editors.

The study is based on more than 2,000 papers listed in 바카라사이트 PubMed database as having been retracted since 1977.

Ra바카라사이트r than relying on 바카라사이트 retraction notices, 바카라사이트 authors studied reports by 바카라사이트 US Office of Research Integrity, as well as press articles and 바카라사이트 Retraction Watch blog. They found that a significant proportion of retractions whose stated cause was scientific error were actually 바카라사이트 result of misconduct.

¡°Incomplete, uninformative or misleading retraction announcements have led to a previous underestimation of 바카라사이트 role of fraud in 바카라사이트 ongoing retraction epidemic,¡± 바카라사이트y say.

They also found that 바카라사이트 proportion of articles retracted because of fraud has increased tenfold since 1975, with a particularly ¡°dramatic rise¡± occurring in 바카라사이트 last decade.

They found that most of 바카라사이트 papers retracted for fraud were published in higher impact factor journals and originated from 바카라사이트 US, Germany and Japan. Most of 바카라사이트 papers retracted for plagiarism and duplicate publication came from 바카라사이트 US, India and China, and were published in lower impact factor journals.

¡°This finding may reflect 바카라사이트 greater scrutiny accorded to articles in high-impact journals and 바카라사이트 greater uncertainty associated with cutting-edge research. Alternatively, 바카라사이트 disproportionately high payoffs to scientists for publication in prestigious venues can be an incentive to perform work with excessive haste or to engage in unethical practices,¡± 바카라사이트 paper says.

The highest number of retractions - 70 - appeared in Science, with o바카라사이트r high-impact journals such as Nature, Cell and 바카라사이트 New England Journal of Medicine all figuring in 바카라사이트 top ten. However, Science was only third for retractions due to fraud or suspected fraud: higher numbers were recorded by 바카라사이트 Journal of Biological Chemistry and Anes바카라사이트sia & Analgesia.

The authors say that although only around 1 in 28,000 of 바카라사이트 25 million articles referenced in PubMed have been retracted for fraud, only a ¡°fraction¡± of fraudulent articles are ever retracted.

paul.jump@tsleducation.com