Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

sl8

(16,245 posts)
Sat Jun 1, 2024, 07:16 AM Jun 2024

Biomedical paper retractions have quadrupled in 20 years -- why?

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01609-0

NEWS
31 May 2024

Biomedical paper retractions have quadrupled in 20 years — why?

Unreliable data, falsification and other issues related to misconduct are driving a growing proportion of retractions.

By Holly Else

The retraction rate for European biomedical-science papers increased fourfold between 2000 and 2021, a study of thousands of retractions has found.

Two-thirds of these papers were withdrawn for reasons relating to research misconduct, such as data and image manipulation or authorship fraud. These factors accounted for an increasing proportion of retractions over the roughly 20-year period, the analysis suggests.

“Our findings indicate that research misconduct has become more prevalent in Europe over the last two decades,” write the authors, led by Alberto Ruano‐Ravina, a public-health researcher at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Other research-integrity specialists point out that retractions could be on the rise because researchers and publishers are getting better at investigating and identifying potential misconduct. There are more people working to spot errors and new digital tools to screen publications for suspicious text or data.

[...]

3 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Biomedical paper retractions have quadrupled in 20 years -- why? (Original Post) sl8 Jun 2024 OP
Because of the pressure to "publish, publish, publish" to keep up reputations and draw in more research bucks ... marble falls Jun 2024 #1
research grants tied directly lapfog_1 Jun 2024 #2
I'm guessing that investigators from organizations such as Retraction Watch have an impact erronis Jun 2024 #3

marble falls

(62,052 posts)
1. Because of the pressure to "publish, publish, publish" to keep up reputations and draw in more research bucks ...
Sat Jun 1, 2024, 07:25 AM
Jun 2024

... to develop more products to market to consumers. A lack of peer review before publishing and the huge number of papers being published contributes 'bigly', too.

lapfog_1

(30,148 posts)
2. research grants tied directly
Sat Jun 1, 2024, 07:39 AM
Jun 2024

to "big pharma" drugs and/or medical devices???

Grants that result in published skewed results that must be withdrawn later. results generally favorable to a product the companies invested big bucks developing.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Science»Biomedical paper retracti...