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...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Director Bhattacharya "Let's fund emerging investigators"
Yeah, who's the idiot running NIH who allowed 15% or few fewer early stage investigators be funded in FY2025 compared to FY2024?
(Estimate: The official numbers are not yet available (at least publicly)
Yeah, who's the idiot running NIH who allowed 15% or few fewer early stage investigators be funded in FY2025 compared to FY2024?
(Estimate: The official numbers are not yet available (at least publicly)
November 6, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Director Bhattacharya "Let's fund emerging investigators"
Yeah, who's the idiot running NIH who allowed 15% or few fewer early stage investigators be funded in FY2025 compared to FY2024?
(Estimate: The official numbers are not yet available (at least publicly)
Yeah, who's the idiot running NIH who allowed 15% or few fewer early stage investigators be funded in FY2025 compared to FY2024?
(Estimate: The official numbers are not yet available (at least publicly)
Reposted by Reese Richardson
These are mill papers.
Further reading, @reeserichardson.bsky.social may have more:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
... and hilariously a 'bibliometric' analysis that doesn't mention paper mills:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Further reading, @reeserichardson.bsky.social may have more:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
... and hilariously a 'bibliometric' analysis that doesn't mention paper mills:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
The rapid growth in Mendelian randomization studies. Gibran Hemani, Stefan Stender, Frank J. Wolters, Albert Hofman & George Davey Smith. European Journal of Epidemiology. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The rapid growth in Mendelian randomization studies - European Journal of Epidemiology
European Journal of Epidemiology -
link.springer.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:43 PM
These are mill papers.
Further reading, @reeserichardson.bsky.social may have more:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
... and hilariously a 'bibliometric' analysis that doesn't mention paper mills:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Further reading, @reeserichardson.bsky.social may have more:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
... and hilariously a 'bibliometric' analysis that doesn't mention paper mills:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Reporter @virginiagewin.bsky.social interviewed 19 current and former US federal agency scientists about the science being dismantled at EPA, NOAA, NASA, CDC, NIH, & USGS.
They say it's making America unprepared for environmental and public health crises.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
They say it's making America unprepared for environmental and public health crises.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’
From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and ...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reporter @virginiagewin.bsky.social interviewed 19 current and former US federal agency scientists about the science being dismantled at EPA, NOAA, NASA, CDC, NIH, & USGS.
They say it's making America unprepared for environmental and public health crises.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
They say it's making America unprepared for environmental and public health crises.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
A network of peer reviewers in Italy is targeting medical journals, threatening “both the scientific record and patient safety,” a team of researchers including @deevybee.bsky.social report.
Review mill in Italy targeting ob-gyn journals, researchers allege
Examples of “boilerplate” text used in the suspect reviews.M.A. Oviedo-Garcia et al/medRxiv 2025 A network of peer reviewers in Italy is targeting medical journals, threatening “both the scientific…
retractionwatch.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:54 PM
A network of peer reviewers in Italy is targeting medical journals, threatening “both the scientific record and patient safety,” a team of researchers including @deevybee.bsky.social report.
"If we are to rebuild our scientific enterprise, we will need the support of the American people, and that means cleaning up our house. Policies to forbid ghostwriting and strong sanctions for researchers who violate those policies would be a good place to start."
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Cleaning the scientific house: Rebuilding trust in science requires confronting the harms of ghostwriting
American science is under attack. Recent cuts to funding and staffing of federal agencies, layoffs of scientists, and rescission of billions of dollars in grants are unprecedented in US history and th...
doi.org
November 4, 2025 at 10:49 PM
"If we are to rebuild our scientific enterprise, we will need the support of the American people, and that means cleaning up our house. Policies to forbid ghostwriting and strong sanctions for researchers who violate those policies would be a good place to start."
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
I was on 🇨🇦 CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks last weekend to talk about systematic scientific fraud! Listen to the 18-minute segment here: www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks...
Nov 1: Sleuthing out scientific fraud, and more... | CBC Radio
On this week's episode: selling sunlight on demand, rhinos roamed Canada’s Arctic 23 million years ago, making a more precise parachute using kirigami, the winner of this year's prestigious Gerhard He...
www.cbc.ca
November 4, 2025 at 1:48 PM
I was on 🇨🇦 CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks last weekend to talk about systematic scientific fraud! Listen to the 18-minute segment here: www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
A rapidly growing share of letters to journals may be drafted by machines, undetected by editors. Study quantifies recently ‘prolific debutante authors’ who had published no letters before 2022, when ChatGPT debuted. #academicjournals #peerreview @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Letters to scientific journals surge as ‘prolific debutante’ authors likely use AI
New study reinforces worries about “mass production of junk” by unscrupulous scholars aiming to pad their CVs
www.science.org
November 3, 2025 at 6:40 PM
A rapidly growing share of letters to journals may be drafted by machines, undetected by editors. Study quantifies recently ‘prolific debutante authors’ who had published no letters before 2022, when ChatGPT debuted. #academicjournals #peerreview @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
"Patients and consumers shouldn’t need a FOIA request to understand whether “FDA authorized” reflects compelling evidence or a device permitted despite serious internal concerns, addressed only through labeling caveats."
www.statnews.com/2025/11/02/q...
www.statnews.com/2025/11/02/q...
A sports device to ‘protect the brain’ illustrates a major problem with the FDA de novo pathway
“This is not just about one device. It’s about what happens when institutions grow comfortable living in their own ambiguity and hiding behind opacity.”
www.statnews.com
November 2, 2025 at 1:31 PM
"Patients and consumers shouldn’t need a FOIA request to understand whether “FDA authorized” reflects compelling evidence or a device permitted despite serious internal concerns, addressed only through labeling caveats."
www.statnews.com/2025/11/02/q...
www.statnews.com/2025/11/02/q...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
For others troubled by the exoneration of Hoau-Yan Wang, there's an analysis of the difficulty prosecuting scientific fraudsters at 13:00 in this @bjkspod.bsky.social podcast. I didn't anticipate the role of institutional research integrity offices in manufacturing "reasonable doubts."
November 1, 2025 at 7:57 PM
For others troubled by the exoneration of Hoau-Yan Wang, there's an analysis of the difficulty prosecuting scientific fraudsters at 13:00 in this @bjkspod.bsky.social podcast. I didn't anticipate the role of institutional research integrity offices in manufacturing "reasonable doubts."
Reposted by Reese Richardson
my letter to the CEO, President, and COO of Services Corporation International, the owner of Dignity Memorial, which manages the cemetery in which my mom is buried that was being used as an ICE staging ground this afternoon.
October 29, 2025 at 8:17 PM
my letter to the CEO, President, and COO of Services Corporation International, the owner of Dignity Memorial, which manages the cemetery in which my mom is buried that was being used as an ICE staging ground this afternoon.
Paper mills are far more adaptable than the institutions fighting them. Case in point: after journals started using "anti-plagiarism" software, paper mills started selling access to the same software.
See our new letter in PNAS, replying to a letter by Philipp Singer: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
See our new letter in PNAS, replying to a letter by Philipp Singer: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
![A Telegram advertisement from a paper mill with some information redacted. It reads:
Greatings of the day
Join in our [whatsapp chat link]
We provide:
Publication services:
SCI/Scopus/UGC Care Publications
PhD Assistance (From Research Proposal to Thesis Writing)
Textbook Publication with ISBN
Scopus indexed Book chapter publication
IEEE conference Paper writing
Check Plagiarism with Turnitin Software (With AI Report)
Plagiarism removal](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:zksiuknephxzeyvlzbcbpbbb/bafkreicvbrqsykmalk2lmyhiojbos2ffxiyai36s6y2u2mjzbshijqyphu@jpeg)
October 29, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Paper mills are far more adaptable than the institutions fighting them. Case in point: after journals started using "anti-plagiarism" software, paper mills started selling access to the same software.
See our new letter in PNAS, replying to a letter by Philipp Singer: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
See our new letter in PNAS, replying to a letter by Philipp Singer: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Tell Goblin to quit sulking and get busy publishing! 🐈📝
Goblin is cross at me for paying attention to another cat @reeserichardson.bsky.social
October 29, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Tell Goblin to quit sulking and get busy publishing! 🐈📝
Reposted by Reese Richardson
They were already suspended, now they're delisted.
Cureus has had an outsized impact on the sheer volume of nonsense research for years, and I wonder if WoS felt like they had a choice.
I won't miss it.
retractionwatch.com/2025/10/27/e...
Cureus has had an outsized impact on the sheer volume of nonsense research for years, and I wonder if WoS felt like they had a choice.
I won't miss it.
retractionwatch.com/2025/10/27/e...
Embattled journal Cureus delisted from Web of Science, loses impact factor
Clarivate has removed the mega-journal Cureus from its Master Journal List, according to the October update, released today. The move means Cureus will no longer be indexed in Web of Science …
retractionwatch.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:29 PM
They were already suspended, now they're delisted.
Cureus has had an outsized impact on the sheer volume of nonsense research for years, and I wonder if WoS felt like they had a choice.
I won't miss it.
retractionwatch.com/2025/10/27/e...
Cureus has had an outsized impact on the sheer volume of nonsense research for years, and I wonder if WoS felt like they had a choice.
I won't miss it.
retractionwatch.com/2025/10/27/e...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
‘A new low’: Researchers at Iraqi university must cite colleagues, school journals in papers, @joelving.bsky.social reports
‘A new low’: Researchers at Iraqi university must cite colleagues, school journals in papers
Mustansiriyah University At the University of Technology in Baghdad, students must publish papers citing the school’s own journals if they wish to graduate, as we reported earlier this month. But d…
retractionwatch.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
‘A new low’: Researchers at Iraqi university must cite colleagues, school journals in papers, @joelving.bsky.social reports
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Interesting paper from two Argentinian ecologists applies network analysis (like that used in food webs) to the tangled accusations of blame around the Grenfell Towers disaster.
The Anatomy of Blame: A Network Analysis of Strategic Responsibility-Shifting After a Systemic Disaster
After disasters, blame becomes a key mechanism through which institutions negotiate responsibility and legitimacy. Yet the structure of these exchanges remains poorly understood. Using evidence from t...
arxiv.org
October 27, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Interesting paper from two Argentinian ecologists applies network analysis (like that used in food webs) to the tangled accusations of blame around the Grenfell Towers disaster.
Pumpkin carving last night.
October 26, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Pumpkin carving last night.
Reposted by Reese Richardson
life/work update: +1 baby, -1 job.
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
I’m deeply sad to share I was laid off last week along with several fiercely talented journalists on the WSJ Health and Science team. I’m proud of the work I did at the Journal, especially my… | Nidhi...
I’m deeply sad to share I was laid off last week along with several fiercely talented journalists on the WSJ Health and Science team. I’m proud of the work I did at the Journal, especially my front-pa...
www.linkedin.com
October 24, 2025 at 7:07 PM
life/work update: +1 baby, -1 job.
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
1. We ( @jbakcoleman.bsky.social, @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, and I) have a new preprint up on the arXiv.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
October 24, 2025 at 12:47 AM
1. We ( @jbakcoleman.bsky.social, @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, and I) have a new preprint up on the arXiv.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
@miryamnaddaf.bsky.social reports at length for @nature.com about identity verification in scientific publishing and why it is no trivial task (featuring some lovely illustrations):
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How to spot fake scientists and stop them from publishing papers
Journals are considering doing identity checks to expose fake authors — but there are downsides.
www.nature.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:34 AM
@miryamnaddaf.bsky.social reports at length for @nature.com about identity verification in scientific publishing and why it is no trivial task (featuring some lovely illustrations):
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Northwestern University Faculty Assembly passes a resolution opposing a “compact” with the Trump administration.
The vote was 595 to 4 with 8 abstaining.
dailynorthwestern.com/2025/10/20/c...
The vote was 595 to 4 with 8 abstaining.
dailynorthwestern.com/2025/10/20/c...
October 20, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Northwestern University Faculty Assembly passes a resolution opposing a “compact” with the Trump administration.
The vote was 595 to 4 with 8 abstaining.
dailynorthwestern.com/2025/10/20/c...
The vote was 595 to 4 with 8 abstaining.
dailynorthwestern.com/2025/10/20/c...
Another live one: UK design #6477896: "LUNG CANCER DETECTION DEVICE USING CNN", granted 16 October 2025.
Come on!
Come on!
October 19, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Another live one: UK design #6477896: "LUNG CANCER DETECTION DEVICE USING CNN", granted 16 October 2025.
Come on!
Come on!
Reposted by Reese Richardson
Experts who reviewed the document called the citation requirement “deceptive and despicable” and said it could carry a steep price for the journals involved, one of which is indexed in Scopus.
Exclusive: Iraqi university forcing students to cite its journals to graduate
To earn their degrees, graduate students at the University of Technology in Baghdad not only must publish research in indexed journals. They also are required to cite articles in their school’s own…
retractionwatch.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Experts who reviewed the document called the citation requirement “deceptive and despicable” and said it could carry a steep price for the journals involved, one of which is indexed in Scopus.
Reposted by Reese Richardson
The scale of imported luxury goods in late antique Britain:
752 ivory rings from 78 sites. In some C5th contexts, 8-15% of graves contained one. Research by Katie Hemer, @hugh-willmott.bsky.social & @rowane.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
752 ivory rings from 78 sites. In some C5th contexts, 8-15% of graves contained one. Research by Katie Hemer, @hugh-willmott.bsky.social & @rowane.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
October 19, 2025 at 2:42 PM
The scale of imported luxury goods in late antique Britain:
752 ivory rings from 78 sites. In some C5th contexts, 8-15% of graves contained one. Research by Katie Hemer, @hugh-willmott.bsky.social & @rowane.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
752 ivory rings from 78 sites. In some C5th contexts, 8-15% of graves contained one. Research by Katie Hemer, @hugh-willmott.bsky.social & @rowane.bsky.social.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
@miryamnaddaf.bsky.social reports in @nature.com on increased volume of applications and decreased success rates for European grants and fellowships across the board.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Is academic research becoming too competitive? Nature examines the data
Applications for European research grants increased in 2025. Scientists say they’re feeling the competition.
www.nature.com
October 18, 2025 at 3:56 PM
@miryamnaddaf.bsky.social reports in @nature.com on increased volume of applications and decreased success rates for European grants and fellowships across the board.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...