Refraction Notch
@refractionnotch.bsky.social
Science. Research Integrity Sleuth
A newly discovered species of cactus is discovered using energy dispersive X-ray analysis.
March 5, 2025 at 8:44 PM
A newly discovered species of cactus is discovered using energy dispersive X-ray analysis.
Author lists on papers have ballooned, and it’s getting hard to discern contribution.
www.thetransmitter.org/academia/the...
www.thetransmitter.org/academia/the...
www.thetransmitter.org
February 27, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Author lists on papers have ballooned, and it’s getting hard to discern contribution.
www.thetransmitter.org/academia/the...
www.thetransmitter.org/academia/the...
Russian Thermophysicist Handed *5-Year* Suspended Sentence in FSB-Linked Fraud Case
www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/25/r...
www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/25/r...
www.themoscowtimes.com
February 27, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Russian Thermophysicist Handed *5-Year* Suspended Sentence in FSB-Linked Fraud Case
www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/25/r...
www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/25/r...
First lady Kim Keon Hee's master's thesis was plagiarized, university says
www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2...
www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2...
First lady Kim Keon Hee's master's thesis was plagiarized, university says
Sookmyung Women's University has officially ruled that first lady Kim Keon Hee's master's thesis was plagiarized after the university's alumni association, which raised the allegations, decided not to...
www.koreatimes.co.kr
February 27, 2025 at 3:52 PM
First lady Kim Keon Hee's master's thesis was plagiarized, university says
www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2...
www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2...
How often do you see all such shapes in a single XPS pattern?!
February 27, 2025 at 3:44 PM
How often do you see all such shapes in a single XPS pattern?!
Reposted by Refraction Notch
Took just 6 months for MMR (Spandidos) to retract this mess. 👏
pubpeer.com/publications... h/t anon Hoya for noticing.
pubpeer.com/publications... h/t anon Hoya for noticing.
February 26, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Took just 6 months for MMR (Spandidos) to retract this mess. 👏
pubpeer.com/publications... h/t anon Hoya for noticing.
pubpeer.com/publications... h/t anon Hoya for noticing.
Reposted by Refraction Notch
Tragic & funny: I have moved on from problematic figures in articles to flagging "corrections". This figure was published as part of a "correction" to a problem I flagged in July'24: Jalili et al. 2024 in 'Molecular Biology Reports' (DOI: 10.1007/s11033-024-09599-y). pubpeer.com/publications...
February 27, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Tragic & funny: I have moved on from problematic figures in articles to flagging "corrections". This figure was published as part of a "correction" to a problem I flagged in July'24: Jalili et al. 2024 in 'Molecular Biology Reports' (DOI: 10.1007/s11033-024-09599-y). pubpeer.com/publications...
Reposted by Refraction Notch
Sabine Hazan still can’t understand: I did not retract her paper, the journal did; after I and others pointed out flaws she could not rectify.
February 23, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Sabine Hazan still can’t understand: I did not retract her paper, the journal did; after I and others pointed out flaws she could not rectify.
Reposted by Refraction Notch
#scicomms
Felice Frankel:
"As a [great, scholarly, "cultivée" etc. - imo] science photographer, I am acutely aware of the difference between an illustration and a documentary photograph, but I am less confident that AI programs can make this distinction."
Felice Frankel:
"As a [great, scholarly, "cultivée" etc. - imo] science photographer, I am acutely aware of the difference between an illustration and a documentary photograph, but I am less confident that AI programs can make this distinction."
Generative artificial intelligence illustrations can be helpful, but fall short as scientific records
https://go.nature.com/3QyaDdi
https://go.nature.com/3QyaDdi
Will AI jeopardize science photography? There’s still time to create an ethical code of conduct
Generative artificial-intelligence illustrations can be helpful, but fall short as scientific records.
go.nature.com
February 24, 2025 at 1:17 PM
#scicomms
Felice Frankel:
"As a [great, scholarly, "cultivée" etc. - imo] science photographer, I am acutely aware of the difference between an illustration and a documentary photograph, but I am less confident that AI programs can make this distinction."
Felice Frankel:
"As a [great, scholarly, "cultivée" etc. - imo] science photographer, I am acutely aware of the difference between an illustration and a documentary photograph, but I am less confident that AI programs can make this distinction."
You are in a hurry, and want to create as many papers as possible. Consequently, you do your photoshopping at almost light speed. Length contraction is a natural consequence of this phenomenon.
February 24, 2025 at 4:17 PM
You are in a hurry, and want to create as many papers as possible. Consequently, you do your photoshopping at almost light speed. Length contraction is a natural consequence of this phenomenon.
Be Responsible like @WorldScientific. Claim to follow the @C0PE guidelines, but hire an EiC that proudly answers like this. And, don't forget to ignore the complaints you receive via email.
February 18, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Be Responsible like @WorldScientific. Claim to follow the @C0PE guidelines, but hire an EiC that proudly answers like this. And, don't forget to ignore the complaints you receive via email.
Reposted by Refraction Notch
Incredible scenes, puts Larry the cat to shame.
January 6, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Incredible scenes, puts Larry the cat to shame.
‘Stamp out paper mills’ — science sleuths on how to fight fake research www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Stamp out paper mills’ — science sleuths on how to fight fake research
A group of scientists who are experts at spotting fraudulent research outline five essential steps to combat industrialized scientific misconduct.
www.nature.com
January 28, 2025 at 7:29 AM
‘Stamp out paper mills’ — science sleuths on how to fight fake research www.nature.com/articles/d41...
These days I see asymmetric error bars everywhere. Is it OK?
January 26, 2025 at 10:19 PM
These days I see asymmetric error bars everywhere. Is it OK?
Reposted by Refraction Notch
Star ecologist accused of misconduct loses university post
Tree researcher Thomas Crowther is seeking to move his laboratory from ETH Zurich, which says it will not renew his contract.
Holly Else reports @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Tree researcher Thomas Crowther is seeking to move his laboratory from ETH Zurich, which says it will not renew his contract.
Holly Else reports @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Star ecologist accused of misconduct loses university post
Tree researcher Thomas Crowther is seeking to move his laboratory from ETH Zurich, which says it will not renew his contract.
www.nature.com
January 26, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Star ecologist accused of misconduct loses university post
Tree researcher Thomas Crowther is seeking to move his laboratory from ETH Zurich, which says it will not renew his contract.
Holly Else reports @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Tree researcher Thomas Crowther is seeking to move his laboratory from ETH Zurich, which says it will not renew his contract.
Holly Else reports @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Refraction Notch
how fitting to this story about the world's largest academic publisher:
"AI processing continues to be used and regularly reformats submitted manuscripts to change meaning and formatting and require extensive author and editor oversight during proof stage." 🧪🎓🤖
retractionwatch.com/2024/12/27/e...
"AI processing continues to be used and regularly reformats submitted manuscripts to change meaning and formatting and require extensive author and editor oversight during proof stage." 🧪🎓🤖
retractionwatch.com/2024/12/27/e...
Evolution journal editors resign en masse to protest Elsevier changes
All but one member of the editorial board of the Journal of Human Evolution (JHE), an Elsevier title, have resigned, saying the “sustained actions of Elsevier are fundamentally incompatible with th…
retractionwatch.com
December 27, 2024 at 6:25 PM
how fitting to this story about the world's largest academic publisher:
"AI processing continues to be used and regularly reformats submitted manuscripts to change meaning and formatting and require extensive author and editor oversight during proof stage." 🧪🎓🤖
retractionwatch.com/2024/12/27/e...
"AI processing continues to be used and regularly reformats submitted manuscripts to change meaning and formatting and require extensive author and editor oversight during proof stage." 🧪🎓🤖
retractionwatch.com/2024/12/27/e...
Reposted by Refraction Notch
Shinde & Desai 2023 (10.1007/s12011-023-03840-8) in 'Biological Trace Element Research', 1 out of 13 articles with severe issues I have found in the journal so far. Figure 8 is a true piece of art. I found the orange and blue with the help of ImageTwin.ai after spotting suspicious overlap by eye.
December 11, 2024 at 3:07 AM
Shinde & Desai 2023 (10.1007/s12011-023-03840-8) in 'Biological Trace Element Research', 1 out of 13 articles with severe issues I have found in the journal so far. Figure 8 is a true piece of art. I found the orange and blue with the help of ImageTwin.ai after spotting suspicious overlap by eye.
*Challenge 5* (level newbie):
Some plots might be similar. Right
Some plots might be similar. Right
December 11, 2024 at 11:41 AM
*Challenge 5* (level newbie):
Some plots might be similar. Right
Some plots might be similar. Right
Reposted by Refraction Notch
I sleuth by looking closely and asking questions. In this case, @arbitraryeffect.bsky.social confirmed my "feeling" that the overhang is probably not alright. 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2020.109085
December 8, 2024 at 2:51 PM
I sleuth by looking closely and asking questions. In this case, @arbitraryeffect.bsky.social confirmed my "feeling" that the overhang is probably not alright. 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2020.109085
Reposted by Refraction Notch
Nice to see a journal use an Expression of Concern the way I think they should always be used - after a credible concern has been raised, the journal wants to alert readers that they are investigating.
pubpeer.com/publications...
pubpeer.com/publications...
December 6, 2024 at 7:44 PM
Nice to see a journal use an Expression of Concern the way I think they should always be used - after a credible concern has been raised, the journal wants to alert readers that they are investigating.
pubpeer.com/publications...
pubpeer.com/publications...
Reposted by Refraction Notch
You have to laugh or you'll cry. An author apologises for not shifting the field of view enough, causing an overlap of 3 images. The images should all be for different combinations of bacterium and treatment.
H/T @sholtodavid.bsky.social
pubpeer.com/publications...
H/T @sholtodavid.bsky.social
pubpeer.com/publications...
December 7, 2024 at 3:39 PM
You have to laugh or you'll cry. An author apologises for not shifting the field of view enough, causing an overlap of 3 images. The images should all be for different combinations of bacterium and treatment.
H/T @sholtodavid.bsky.social
pubpeer.com/publications...
H/T @sholtodavid.bsky.social
pubpeer.com/publications...
Reposted by Refraction Notch
Figures with lots of panels often come with lots of problems (just my personal impression): Wang et al. 2024 (DOI: 10.1186/s12870-024-05668-3); 'BMC Plant Biology'. Figure 1 has a questionable overlap (after rotation) and one of the panels just has been copy-pasted (because why not, right?)
December 5, 2024 at 4:43 PM
Figures with lots of panels often come with lots of problems (just my personal impression): Wang et al. 2024 (DOI: 10.1186/s12870-024-05668-3); 'BMC Plant Biology'. Figure 1 has a questionable overlap (after rotation) and one of the panels just has been copy-pasted (because why not, right?)
Reposted by Refraction Notch
Article from @manuelansede.bsky.social elansede in @elpais.com on academical #fraud! 2000 frauds have been removed by @clarivate.com in their highly cited list. But we are far from cleaning up the #papermill #fraud! The fake Saudi Arabia science bubble to burst?
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
Dozens of the world’s most cited scientists stop falsely claiming to work in Saudi Arabia
This newspaper unveiled that Saudi universities were paying up to €70,000 a year to prestigious researchers to artificially pump up Arab institutions in international academic rankings
english.elpais.com
December 5, 2024 at 5:03 PM
Article from @manuelansede.bsky.social elansede in @elpais.com on academical #fraud! 2000 frauds have been removed by @clarivate.com in their highly cited list. But we are far from cleaning up the #papermill #fraud! The fake Saudi Arabia science bubble to burst?
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
Can anybody confirm this?
x.com/YangLiu_LMB/...
x.com/YangLiu_LMB/...
x.com
x.com
December 5, 2024 at 12:20 PM
Can anybody confirm this?
x.com/YangLiu_LMB/...
x.com/YangLiu_LMB/...