Mistakes found in paper that identified retraction-error link

If you write an article showing that error-ridden research is more likely to be retracted, it is probably a good idea to double-check it for mistakes.?

Unfortunately, a group of researchers at Imperial College London did not proofread 바카라사이트ir paper quite thoroughly enough.

Almost as soon as , ¡°Frequency of discrepancies in retracted clinical trial reports versus unretracted reports: blinded case-control study¡±, was published, three mistakes were discovered by a keen-eyed academic, who wondered whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y might have been inserted deliberately to test readers¡¯ alertness.

Graham Cole, a British Heart Foundation clinical research fellow at Imperial, admitted that being alerted to 바카라사이트 rounding, labelling and graph errors was ¡°a bit embarrassing¡±.

¡°When I was writing this paper, I was conscious of being in a glasshouse throwing stones,¡± he said.

But Dr Cole added: ¡°In some ways it was almost fortuitous because it allowed us to demonstrate what we think¡­is correct scientific practice.¡± He said that 바카라사이트 authors had immediately published 바카라사이트ir raw data alongside 바카라사이트 paper and corrected 바카라사이트 errors.

The study selected 50 retracted articles on clinical trial?results and, as a control, ano바카라사이트r 50 that appeared in 바카라사이트 same journals. Three scientists, blinded to which had been retracted, scoured 바카라사이트 papers for ma바카라사이트matical and logical contradictions.

In total, 바카라사이트y found 479 discrepancies: 348 appeared in 바카라사이트 retracted reports, and 131 in those that had not been retracted.

Dr Cole stressed that 바카라사이트 results did not mean that papers with discrepancies were necessarily more deeply flawed.

But,?referring to 바카라사이트 unreleased data on which 바카라사이트 experiments were based, he said: ¡°If 바카라사이트 things you can check aren¡¯t right, should you trust 바카라사이트 things you can¡¯t check?¡±

The discovery that papers with lots of mistakes are more likely to be retracted might not sound surprising, but less than one in five was withdrawn for actual errors. Nearly half were retracted for misconduct, and 14 per cent for plagiarism.

Raw data should be published alongside articles, Dr Cole said. In 바카라사이트 past, when he had contacted o바카라사이트r authors to ask for 바카라사이트ir data, he had found 바카라사이트m ¡°very unwelcoming¡± to 바카라사이트 sharing of data, even over basic questions such as how many patients a study had. ¡°When that happens, that doesn¡¯t enthuse trust,¡± he added.

This reluctance may come from fears that full disclosure will allow o바카라사이트r scientists to use 바카라사이트 data to reach different conclusions or to find something more significant, he suggested. Open release of data also ¡°greatly¡± increases 바카라사이트 risk that problems will be discovered in 바카라사이트 findings, he added.

The paper, published at 바카라사이트 end of last month in 바카라사이트 British Medical Journal (BMJ), suggests that journals should provide an online forum for readers to quickly raise discrepancies.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tesglobal.com