(25 Mar 2021) A recent article by Holly Else & Richard Van Noorden in Nature looks at a growing issue in the field of research: Paper mills. The article highlights the work of Elizabeth Bik and other, pseudonymous, researchers that have identified more than 1,400 published papers that were potentially linked to paper mills. Of those,…
(10 Mar 2021) In Sweden, a national code takes 44,000 words to define research misconduct and discuss scientific values. Next door, Norway’s equivalent is a brisk 900 words, little more than in this news article. And it’s not just the size of the codes that differs across Europe: A new analysis of scientific integrity policies in…
(29 Jan 2021) Retraction of academic journal articles generally means major flaws are found in the research, which cannot be amended by simple correction. There might be many reasons why the articles are retracted. In this issue on Fun Facts on Numbers, let’s take a look at how many articles were retracted due to image-related…
A government-backed ethics board found duplicate images and other visual discrepancies in papers by three of the five researchers it investigated, but no evidence of plagiarism. (22 Jan 2021) Following a long investigation, five high-profile Chinese scientists have been cleared of allegations of plagiarism and academic fraud, a scientific integrity board under the central…
(20 Jan 2021) China is ramping up its crackdown on academic misconduct with plans for plagiarism spot checks on undergraduate dissertations, warning universities that they face losing funding or having their right to enrol students suspended if they consistently perform poorly. The Ministry of Education said that provincial education authorities will sample at least 2 per…
Only a small fraction of research misconduct ever comes to light. Independent investigative bodies could remedy that. (11 Aug 2020) From Nature Index: Only a small fraction of research misconduct ever comes to light. What’s more, many commonplace research misbehaviors are categorized as questionable research practices (QRPs) rather than outright misconduct. That includes publication bias, where scholarly…
(4 Aug 2020) Turnitin today announced a comprehensive academic integrity solution called Turnitin Originality. Turnitin Originality combines the text similarity checking functionality that Turnitin is known for with new features that help instructors address trends such as contract cheating and teach students the value of original thinking skills. Turnitin Originality uses comprehensive technology to help…
(13 May 2020) From Nature: “The world’s largest science publishers are teaming up to discuss how to automatically flag altered or duplicated images in research papers. A new working group — the first formal cross-industry initiative to discuss the issue — aims to set standards for software that screens papers for problematic images during peer…
(11 Feb 2020) From Elsevier Research Academy: “Advancing technology has put the control of scientific images in the hands of researchers and authors. According to most journal guidelines, images submitted with a manuscript for review should be minimally processed. However, with limited knowledge on the subject, it is difficult to assess whether the manipulation of an image is…
(24 Jan 2020) An investigation by Elisabeth Bik, Smut Clyde, Morty and Tiger BB8 reveals the workings of a paper mill. Its customers are Chinese doctors desperate for promotion. Apparently even journal editors are part of the scam, publishing fraudulent made-up science. Read the full story here.