Sam
@ddr-sam.bsky.social
Postdoc, Harvard University. #DNArepair
I find this plugin very useful to have installed. Several times it has stopped me from citing a paper that I did not realize was retracted. Every scientist should use it!
The browser extension and Zotero plugin can be nice to connect to PubPeer pages quickly to view critical commentaries.
Chrome: chromewebstore.google.com/detail/pubpe...
Firefox: addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo...
Zotero plug-in: github.com/PubPeerFound...
Chrome: chromewebstore.google.com/detail/pubpe...
Firefox: addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo...
Zotero plug-in: github.com/PubPeerFound...
PubPeer - Chrome Web Store
Show links to existing PubPeer comments
chromewebstore.google.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I find this plugin very useful to have installed. Several times it has stopped me from citing a paper that I did not realize was retracted. Every scientist should use it!
Reposted by Sam
Neat trick if you polycolonal ab's suck. Incubate them with fixed cells with a KO of your protein of interest, then spin. Protocol here: www.med.upenn.edu/markslab/ass...
I was amazed how well it worked on first try (I'm sure that I can completely eliminate unspecific bands)
#WesternBlot #cellsky
I was amazed how well it worked on first try (I'm sure that I can completely eliminate unspecific bands)
#WesternBlot #cellsky
October 2, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Neat trick if you polycolonal ab's suck. Incubate them with fixed cells with a KO of your protein of interest, then spin. Protocol here: www.med.upenn.edu/markslab/ass...
I was amazed how well it worked on first try (I'm sure that I can completely eliminate unspecific bands)
#WesternBlot #cellsky
I was amazed how well it worked on first try (I'm sure that I can completely eliminate unspecific bands)
#WesternBlot #cellsky
Reposted by Sam
Peer review has a weakness in that it is not in one's interest to upset colleagues by pointing out their mistakes, as upset peers may write negative reviews in the future. But setting the record straight is an essential part of science, and an ever-self-congratulating field is prone to get stuck.
August 20, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Peer review has a weakness in that it is not in one's interest to upset colleagues by pointing out their mistakes, as upset peers may write negative reviews in the future. But setting the record straight is an essential part of science, and an ever-self-congratulating field is prone to get stuck.
Reposted by Sam
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...
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
August 4, 2025 at 8:47 PM
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 Sam
📢 We’re a coalition of former staff members who saw too much, spoke up against a tyrant administrator and were pushed out.
Follow us and stay tuned to learn how this department has deteriorated over the last few years and how it’s recently getting worse & worse.
Follow us and stay tuned to learn how this department has deteriorated over the last few years and how it’s recently getting worse & worse.
June 16, 2025 at 10:40 AM
📢 We’re a coalition of former staff members who saw too much, spoke up against a tyrant administrator and were pushed out.
Follow us and stay tuned to learn how this department has deteriorated over the last few years and how it’s recently getting worse & worse.
Follow us and stay tuned to learn how this department has deteriorated over the last few years and how it’s recently getting worse & worse.
Reposted by Sam
Big news in the publishing landscape of 🇨🇭
The Swiss National Science Foundation will no longer support publications in special issues. This is to fight the unsustainable models pushed by publishing houses like MDPI or Frontiers. There is another way. Go Diamond! 💎💎💎💎💎💎💎
www.snf.ch/en/g2ICvujLD...
The Swiss National Science Foundation will no longer support publications in special issues. This is to fight the unsustainable models pushed by publishing houses like MDPI or Frontiers. There is another way. Go Diamond! 💎💎💎💎💎💎💎
www.snf.ch/en/g2ICvujLD...
The SNSF is no longer funding Open Access articles in special issues
Large increase, inconsistent processes: from February 2024, the SNSF will no longer fund Open Access articles in special issues.
www.snf.ch
December 1, 2023 at 6:59 PM
Big news in the publishing landscape of 🇨🇭
The Swiss National Science Foundation will no longer support publications in special issues. This is to fight the unsustainable models pushed by publishing houses like MDPI or Frontiers. There is another way. Go Diamond! 💎💎💎💎💎💎💎
www.snf.ch/en/g2ICvujLD...
The Swiss National Science Foundation will no longer support publications in special issues. This is to fight the unsustainable models pushed by publishing houses like MDPI or Frontiers. There is another way. Go Diamond! 💎💎💎💎💎💎💎
www.snf.ch/en/g2ICvujLD...
Reposted by Sam
Big news from Finnish publication forum. Almost all MDPI and Frontiers journals will be downgraded to level 0 and thus are not considered as properly peer reviewed trustworthy scientific journals.
julkaisufoorumi.fi/en/news/chan...
julkaisufoorumi.fi/en/news/chan...
Changes to the classification
julkaisufoorumi.fi
December 16, 2024 at 10:12 AM
Big news from Finnish publication forum. Almost all MDPI and Frontiers journals will be downgraded to level 0 and thus are not considered as properly peer reviewed trustworthy scientific journals.
julkaisufoorumi.fi/en/news/chan...
julkaisufoorumi.fi/en/news/chan...
It's now possible to win $1000 for making a PubPeer comment!🤑
We’re encouraging meaningful commentary with $1,000 rewards for selected PubPeer comments. bsky.app/profile/pubp...
Now imagine if @hhmi.bsky.social , NIH, NSF, etc also awarded outstanding public reviews.
These could boost careers and CVs while building a vital layer of scientific evaluation.
Now imagine if @hhmi.bsky.social , NIH, NSF, etc also awarded outstanding public reviews.
These could boost careers and CVs while building a vital layer of scientific evaluation.
And now for the announcement:
While many of our plans for the award funds will take time to implement, one can start immediately.
To thank our users and encourage scientific debate, we’re introducing $1,000 rewards for selected PubPeer comments!
Yes students and postdocs you read that right: $1000
While many of our plans for the award funds will take time to implement, one can start immediately.
To thank our users and encourage scientific debate, we’re introducing $1,000 rewards for selected PubPeer comments!
Yes students and postdocs you read that right: $1000
December 6, 2024 at 1:08 PM
It's now possible to win $1000 for making a PubPeer comment!🤑
Worrying 👇
scRNA-seq has revolutionized biology, but it’s not without challenges. We uncovered significant quality issues in widely used reference cell atlases like the Human Cell Atlas and Tabula Sapiens. Up to 85% of cells in some datasets are low-quality or misidentified!
2/8
2/8
December 6, 2024 at 1:07 PM
Worrying 👇
Reposted by Sam
Impossible😂 But why the hell submitting there??? Publishing in MDPI may be the best way to kill a PhD students career before it even started:
predatoryreports.org/news/f/list-...
t.co/1NaeJXfSwx
predatoryreports.org/news/f/list-...
t.co/1NaeJXfSwx
predatoryreports.org
December 6, 2024 at 8:57 AM
Impossible😂 But why the hell submitting there??? Publishing in MDPI may be the best way to kill a PhD students career before it even started:
predatoryreports.org/news/f/list-...
t.co/1NaeJXfSwx
predatoryreports.org/news/f/list-...
t.co/1NaeJXfSwx
Reposted by Sam
Many years ago I was asked to join the editorial board of the journal Electrochem that was about to start.
It sounded very interesting, since OA was just coming in and we were trying to move away from elsevier and other subscription journals.
1/
It sounded very interesting, since OA was just coming in and we were trying to move away from elsevier and other subscription journals.
1/
More evidence (as if it was needed) that Frontiers and MDPI do not peer review properly, have predatory characteristics and should be avoided like the plague
The strain on scientific publishing: we set out to characterise the remarkable growth of the scientific literature in the last few years, in spite of declining growth in total scientists. What is going on?
direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A 🧵 1/n
#AcademicSky #PhDchat #ScientificPublishing #SciPub
direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A 🧵 1/n
#AcademicSky #PhDchat #ScientificPublishing #SciPub
December 3, 2024 at 10:08 AM
Many years ago I was asked to join the editorial board of the journal Electrochem that was about to start.
It sounded very interesting, since OA was just coming in and we were trying to move away from elsevier and other subscription journals.
1/
It sounded very interesting, since OA was just coming in and we were trying to move away from elsevier and other subscription journals.
1/
Reposted by Sam
Academic fraud is rife with #china at the forefront. As I write in the Spectator, journals are waking up to reality of fake science thanks to dogged detective work of @elisabethbik.bsky.social
worthy winner of @einsteinberlin.bsky.social award #fraud #science
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
worthy winner of @einsteinberlin.bsky.social award #fraud #science
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
The paper mills helping China commit scientific fraud
In one Chinese research paper into prostate cancer, 50 per cent of the patients named were women – who do not have prostate glands.
www.spectator.co.uk
November 23, 2024 at 11:44 PM
Academic fraud is rife with #china at the forefront. As I write in the Spectator, journals are waking up to reality of fake science thanks to dogged detective work of @elisabethbik.bsky.social
worthy winner of @einsteinberlin.bsky.social award #fraud #science
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
worthy winner of @einsteinberlin.bsky.social award #fraud #science
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-...
More evidence (as if it was needed) that Frontiers and MDPI do not peer review properly, have predatory characteristics and should be avoided like the plague
The strain on scientific publishing: we set out to characterise the remarkable growth of the scientific literature in the last few years, in spite of declining growth in total scientists. What is going on?
direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A 🧵 1/n
#AcademicSky #PhDchat #ScientificPublishing #SciPub
direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A 🧵 1/n
#AcademicSky #PhDchat #ScientificPublishing #SciPub
November 20, 2024 at 9:24 AM
More evidence (as if it was needed) that Frontiers and MDPI do not peer review properly, have predatory characteristics and should be avoided like the plague
Beware using FLAG tags in SUMOylation studies, as the lysines in the DYKDDDDK sequence can be SUMOylated according to this report... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
An Atypical Mechanism of SUMOylation of Neurofibromin SecPH Domain Provides New Insights into SUMOylation Site Selection
Neurofibromin (Nf1) is a giant multidomain protein encoded by the tumour-suppressor gene NF1. NF1 is mutated in a common genetic disease, neurofibroma…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 19, 2024 at 2:12 PM
Beware using FLAG tags in SUMOylation studies, as the lysines in the DYKDDDDK sequence can be SUMOylated according to this report... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
This study finds that at least N=8-12 RNA-seq experiments are required to avoid a >50% false positive rate www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Optimizing murine sample sizes for RNA-seq studies revealed from large-scale comparative analysis
Determining the appropriate sample size (N) for comparative biological experiments is critical for obtaining reliable results. In order to determine the N, the usual approach is to perform a power cal...
www.biorxiv.org
November 18, 2024 at 1:00 PM
This study finds that at least N=8-12 RNA-seq experiments are required to avoid a >50% false positive rate www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Worth bearing in mind! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Prevalence of errors in lab-made plasmids across the globe
Plasmids are indispensable in life sciences research and therapeutics development. Currently, most labs custom-build their plasmids. As yet, no systematic data on the quality of lab-made plasmids exis...
www.biorxiv.org
November 18, 2024 at 12:56 PM
Worth bearing in mind! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Hello Bluesky, looking forward to interesting and stimulating science here!
November 18, 2024 at 12:55 PM
Hello Bluesky, looking forward to interesting and stimulating science here!