Science journalism by Leonid Schneider, on research integrity and academic publishing in life sciences and biomedicine
“I should remind you that the editorial offices that investigated your allegations did not found any evidence of scientific misconduct or data fabrication. In my opinion, your allegation may bear the elements of defamation and false accusation” – Prof Radek Zboril
Smut Clyde congratulates Aging: “This is bespoke tailoring, in contrast to the off-the-rack products cranked out by the average papermill […] no shame befalls the journals that accept these confections.”
This week’s Schneider Shorts are about unaffected conclusions and destroyed raw data, the war on virus, vaccines and antivaxxers, and the virtues of having a long nose.
Schneider Shorts for 5 May 2021: retractions and resignations, geniuses saving the world from COVID-19, anti-aging scams and Didier Raoult’s legal attack on Elisabeth Bik.
“IU School of Medicine scientists discover ‘game-changer’ treatment for triple negative breast cancer”
Önder Metin had a rogue PhD student whom he trusted “to ensure their academic growth”. But “mistakes were made by mistake”, conclusions are never affected. Yet those who still complain, will pay dearly.
“The Board assesses that there are no scientifically acceptable explanations for why the notified researchers have fabricated research results in the manner that has occurred in the notified articles. Raw data also does not support the reported results. [..]
In summary, the Board finds therefore that the notified researchers have been guilty of misconduct in research.”
“All these SEM, EDX, TEM, BET, XRD, FT-IR, and contact angles in the theses and papers from our lab, where do they come from? We made them up. “
Fake nanotechnology is always fun, but it does get extreme here. Word of advice: if you are in Turkey, better don’t point fingers at Professor Fatih Sen’s research. Things get broken easily.
“it makes more sense when you have consumed twice the recommended dose of San Pedro cactus and spent four hours staring at paisley wallpaper, or so I hear from a friend.” – Smut Clyde.
