Reese Richardson
@reeserichardson.bsky.social
A newly-minted PhD studying metascience and computational biology.
My blog: https://reeserichardson.blog
My blog: https://reeserichardson.blog
Pinned
A do-or-die moment for the scientific enterprise
Reflecting on our paper “The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly”
reeserichardson.blog
Today, our article "The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly" is finally published in PNAS. I hope that it proves to be a wake-up-call for the whole scientific community.
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
"It might be easy to dismiss the idea of ISO 9001 as just another tool to encourage best practice among publishers. But journal certification would fill a long-standing gap in the chain of external oversight from conduct to translation of research."
@jabyrnesci.bsky.social writes in @nature.com !
@jabyrnesci.bsky.social writes in @nature.com !
Put pressure on publishers to follow best practice — external regulation is the answer
Journals that work hard to meet the needs of both authors and readers should be acknowledged publicly — encouraging others to follow suit.
doi.org
December 31, 2025 at 8:55 PM
"It might be easy to dismiss the idea of ISO 9001 as just another tool to encourage best practice among publishers. But journal certification would fill a long-standing gap in the chain of external oversight from conduct to translation of research."
@jabyrnesci.bsky.social writes in @nature.com !
@jabyrnesci.bsky.social writes in @nature.com !
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Merry Christmas and happy holidays from COSIG's newly-named mascot, Sal Sleuthmander!
December 25, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Merry Christmas and happy holidays from COSIG's newly-named mascot, Sal Sleuthmander!
Nail salon in my hometown is owned by pirates
December 24, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Nail salon in my hometown is owned by pirates
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Reminder that the head of the NIH is an economist who has never conducted NIH-funded research, spent years doing paid speaking engagements for far-right extremist groups, & is best known for a study where he committed serious ethical violations & ended up wrong by greater than an order of magnitude.
I wouldn't describe Jay as "man in the middle" unless I were making sort of human centipede analogy.
December 23, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Reminder that the head of the NIH is an economist who has never conducted NIH-funded research, spent years doing paid speaking engagements for far-right extremist groups, & is best known for a study where he committed serious ethical violations & ended up wrong by greater than an order of magnitude.
Reposted by Reese Richardson
And now someone has uploaded a version that wasn't filmed off a TV.
There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.
There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.
Pulled 60 Minutes segment on CECOT : CBS : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
This is a screen recording of a 60 Minutes segment about the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison in El Salvador, which was intended to be...
archive.org
December 22, 2025 at 11:51 PM
And now someone has uploaded a version that wasn't filmed off a TV.
There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.
There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.
Reposted by Reese Richardson
These are all the 42 papers Google Scholar has found citing "our" paper that we never wrote - who knows how much actual human touch went into them? scholar.google.com.vn/scholar?star...
scholar.google.com.vn
December 19, 2025 at 6:06 PM
These are all the 42 papers Google Scholar has found citing "our" paper that we never wrote - who knows how much actual human touch went into them? scholar.google.com.vn/scholar?star...
Speaking of Real Names, RIP Minty Clinch
December 19, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Speaking of Real Names, RIP Minty Clinch
Folks, our efforts our paying off: a 66.6% reduction in scientific fraud since last year!
The U.S. Office of Research Integrity has been relatively quiet in 2025, releasing just two misconduct findings with only two weeks remaining in the year — the fewest the office has released since at least 2006. ORI typically releases an average of about 10 findings a year.
ORI has released just two misconduct findings this year
The U.S. Office of Research Integrity has been relatively quiet in 2025, releasing just two misconduct findings with only two weeks remaining in the year — the fewest the office has released since …
retractionwatch.com
December 18, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Folks, our efforts our paying off: a 66.6% reduction in scientific fraud since last year!
“Google Scholar wants people to use their product...However, Google has repeatedly demonstrated that they are not really interested in maintaining the integrity of their product,” [Richardson] said.
Jack Grove reports for @timeshighered.bsky.social
Jack Grove reports for @timeshighered.bsky.social
Google Scholar’s citation errors skew h-index leaderboards
Thousands of mistakenly awarded citations left uncorrected highlight the perils of leaving profile curation to academics, say critics
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 18, 2025 at 7:39 PM
“Google Scholar wants people to use their product...However, Google has repeatedly demonstrated that they are not really interested in maintaining the integrity of their product,” [Richardson] said.
Jack Grove reports for @timeshighered.bsky.social
Jack Grove reports for @timeshighered.bsky.social
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Hey, I'm here! And I'm not the only one who's run into this!
December 17, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Hey, I'm here! And I'm not the only one who's run into this!
Can there be any such thing as confidentiality if reviewers are uploading unpublished manuscripts to chatbots left and right?
@miryamnaddaf.bsky.social writes for @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@miryamnaddaf.bsky.social writes for @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
More than half of researchers now use AI for peer review — often against guidance
A survey of 1,600 academics found that more than 50% have used artificial-intelligence tools while peer reviewing manuscripts.
www.nature.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Can there be any such thing as confidentiality if reviewers are uploading unpublished manuscripts to chatbots left and right?
@miryamnaddaf.bsky.social writes for @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@miryamnaddaf.bsky.social writes for @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Last week, COSIG's team of maintainers finally got to meet up in person!
@solalpirelli.bsky.social @reeserichardson.bsky.social
@solalpirelli.bsky.social @reeserichardson.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Last week, COSIG's team of maintainers finally got to meet up in person!
@solalpirelli.bsky.social @reeserichardson.bsky.social
@solalpirelli.bsky.social @reeserichardson.bsky.social
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Agrees to Pay $15 Million to Settle Fraud Allegations Related to Scientific Research Grants. The relator [Sholto David] will receive $2,625,000 under today’s settlement.
www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/d...
www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/d...
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Agrees to Pay $15 Million to Settle Fraud Allegations Related to Scientific Research Grants
BOSTON – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. (Dana-Farber) has agreed to pay $15 million to resolve allegations that, between 2014 and 2024, it made materially false statements and certifications relat...
www.justice.gov
December 16, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Agrees to Pay $15 Million to Settle Fraud Allegations Related to Scientific Research Grants. The relator [Sholto David] will receive $2,625,000 under today’s settlement.
www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/d...
www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/d...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a $15 million NIH grant fraud settlement with Dana-Farber Cancer Center. This resolves a False Claims Act qui tam complaint that I filed on behalf of @sholtodavid.bsky.social in April 2024, with Gregg Shapiro as my co-counsel.
News & Publications
Eugenie Reich & Gregg Shapiro Announce $15 Million NIH Grant Fraud Settlement (December 2025) Complaint Settlement Agreement Scientific Fraud in the 21st Century (Video Lecture) Sandia Nationa…
eugeniereichlaw.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:20 PM
The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a $15 million NIH grant fraud settlement with Dana-Farber Cancer Center. This resolves a False Claims Act qui tam complaint that I filed on behalf of @sholtodavid.bsky.social in April 2024, with Gregg Shapiro as my co-counsel.
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Did you know that from tomorrow, Qualtrics is offering synthetic panels (AI-generated participants)?
Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"
Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"
December 16, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Did you know that from tomorrow, Qualtrics is offering synthetic panels (AI-generated participants)?
Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"
Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"
Massive congratulations to @sholtodavid.bsky.social and @eugenie-reich.bsky.social !
wow! Sleuth triumph
www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber to pay $15 million to settle US claims over flawed studies
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has agreed to pay $15 million to resolve claims that the Harvard Medical School affiliate wrongly used National Institutes of Health grant funding to support the publicati...
www.reuters.com
December 16, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Massive congratulations to @sholtodavid.bsky.social and @eugenie-reich.bsky.social !
Nothing more magical than encountering A Real Name in the wild. Hello, Lars Tharp
December 16, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Nothing more magical than encountering A Real Name in the wild. Hello, Lars Tharp
Here's one of the corrected images, as originally annotated on @pubpeer.com by @elisabethbik.bsky.social. The published image (from 2011) contains many duplications, some with rotation, flipping, stretching & duplications between conditions.
Is a correction really an appropriate way to remedy this?
Is a correction really an appropriate way to remedy this?
December 13, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Here's one of the corrected images, as originally annotated on @pubpeer.com by @elisabethbik.bsky.social. The published image (from 2011) contains many duplications, some with rotation, flipping, stretching & duplications between conditions.
Is a correction really an appropriate way to remedy this?
Is a correction really an appropriate way to remedy this?
Reposted by Reese Richardson
When should a paper be corrected?
Last December, @elisabethbik.bsky.social and other sleuths began flagging papers by a prominent bioengineer, Ali Khademhosseini. They found over 80 with image issues.
Khademhosseini and his colleagues have issued over 40 corrections, but avoided retractions.
Last December, @elisabethbik.bsky.social and other sleuths began flagging papers by a prominent bioengineer, Ali Khademhosseini. They found over 80 with image issues.
Khademhosseini and his colleagues have issued over 40 corrections, but avoided retractions.
Science sleuths raise concerns about scores of bioengineering papers
Prominent bioengineer Ali Khademhosseini has so far corrected more than 40 of the papers in question, but critics say some should have been retracted.
www.nature.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:53 PM
When should a paper be corrected?
Last December, @elisabethbik.bsky.social and other sleuths began flagging papers by a prominent bioengineer, Ali Khademhosseini. They found over 80 with image issues.
Khademhosseini and his colleagues have issued over 40 corrections, but avoided retractions.
Last December, @elisabethbik.bsky.social and other sleuths began flagging papers by a prominent bioengineer, Ali Khademhosseini. They found over 80 with image issues.
Khademhosseini and his colleagues have issued over 40 corrections, but avoided retractions.
I found a guy on Instagram under active delusion that he can decode shamanic rituals from random rocks he has dragged into his apartment.
The Google AI summary is telling him these rocks are early human stone tools.
Not great!
The Google AI summary is telling him these rocks are early human stone tools.
Not great!
December 12, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I found a guy on Instagram under active delusion that he can decode shamanic rituals from random rocks he has dragged into his apartment.
The Google AI summary is telling him these rocks are early human stone tools.
Not great!
The Google AI summary is telling him these rocks are early human stone tools.
Not great!
Reposted by Reese Richardson
I am not anti LLM across the board. But if your use case starts with the necessary assumption that the model is a vessel of all human knowledge, then you are consulting an oracle not doing scientific research.
December 10, 2025 at 10:17 AM
I am not anti LLM across the board. But if your use case starts with the necessary assumption that the model is a vessel of all human knowledge, then you are consulting an oracle not doing scientific research.
Reposted by Reese Richardson
*small domino* my mum tells me not to drink diet coke because she read in the Guardian that it causes dementia
*BIG DOMINO* zoom meeting with the editor-in-chief of Neurology to discuss errors i found in multiple peer-reviewed papers
*BIG DOMINO* zoom meeting with the editor-in-chief of Neurology to discuss errors i found in multiple peer-reviewed papers
"Sweeteners can harm cognitive health equivalent to 1.6 years of ageing, study finds"
Or does it? Let's take a look at this "study"...
www.theguardian.com/food/2025/se...
Or does it? Let's take a look at this "study"...
www.theguardian.com/food/2025/se...
Sweeteners can harm cognitive health equivalent to 1.6 years of ageing, study finds
Researchers say low- and no-calorie sweeteners appear to affect thinking and memory in middle age
www.theguardian.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:10 PM
*small domino* my mum tells me not to drink diet coke because she read in the Guardian that it causes dementia
*BIG DOMINO* zoom meeting with the editor-in-chief of Neurology to discuss errors i found in multiple peer-reviewed papers
*BIG DOMINO* zoom meeting with the editor-in-chief of Neurology to discuss errors i found in multiple peer-reviewed papers
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Achal Agrawal is on Nature’s list of 10 people who shaped science in 2025. His work helped change India’s university rankings system to include a penalty for large number of retractions.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
This science sleuth revealed a retraction crisis at Indian universities
Achal Agrawal is part of Nature’s 10, a list of people who shaped science in 2025.
www.nature.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Achal Agrawal is on Nature’s list of 10 people who shaped science in 2025. His work helped change India’s university rankings system to include a penalty for large number of retractions.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"...science is often not a competition between theories but a process of narrative creation in which the paradigm tends to be set by the most persuasive narrative—which is often the one that has the most intuitive and compelling metaphors."
@philipcball.bsky.social in Marginalia Review of Books
@philipcball.bsky.social in Marginalia Review of Books
Theory, Metaphor, Narrative: How Science Creates the Stories it Tells
PHILIP BALL | Science is often not a competition between theories but a process of narrative creation in which the paradigm tends to be set by the most persuasive narrative
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:02 AM
"...science is often not a competition between theories but a process of narrative creation in which the paradigm tends to be set by the most persuasive narrative—which is often the one that has the most intuitive and compelling metaphors."
@philipcball.bsky.social in Marginalia Review of Books
@philipcball.bsky.social in Marginalia Review of Books
Unbelievable what passes for "remarkably well-preserved" these days.
December 8, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Unbelievable what passes for "remarkably well-preserved" these days.