Scholarly journal retracts 60 articles, smashes ‘peer review ring'

Peer review, says an explanation for budding young scientists on the Web site of the University of California-Berkeley, “does the same thing for science that the ‘inspected by #7′ sticker does for your t-shirt: provides assurance that someone who knows what they’re doing has double-checked it.”

It “is at the heart of the processes of not just medical journals but of all of science,” Richard Smith, a prominent editor of a major academic publishing house has written. “It is the method by which grants are allocated, papers published, academics promoted, and Nobel prizes won….When something is peer reviewed it is in some sense blessed.”

On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that the academic journal had retracted 60 “scholarly” papers after discovering a “peer review ring” that had rigged the vetting process designed to insure the value and integrity of published research. The story was first reported by an online publication called Retraction Watch after the group that operates the journal, SAGE, announced the results of an investigation. While the journal involved, which covers acoustics, is a bit obscure, the scandal may very well go down in academic history as one of the most brazen on record.

And some of the articles that got published, in addition to listing the physicist as the author, listed real scholars who had nothing to do with the papers. “We believe some of the co-authors may be innocent parties as they may not have had anything to do with the submission process or may not have known they were co-authors on the papers,” said Sherman.

5* and pin suggest!

Everything has been compromised!

:ahh:

Trust nothing and nobody!

You have to wonder what other "peer reviewed" stuff is bullcrap.... maybe like papers on global warming.

Everything has been compromised!

They busted a lot of those research papers.

Climategate. NASA was fudging the science.

You have to wonder what other "peer reviewed" stuff is bullcrap.... maybe like papers on global warming.

So much for peer review credibility being absolute!



[link to www.washingtonpost.com]

Howdy,
Wow. Shame to see how this guy pulled the fleece over the eyes of the editor. That must really speak toward the advanced complexity of the work or the laziness of the editor to not check the sources... Maybe both came into play. Thankfully, due to the careful attention of people involved, the articles were noticed and retracted. Contrary to your post, OP, this actually makes me feel better about peer-reviewed papers. Bad science does get checked, and it does get refuted in public. :) Good for academia. Let's hope the editors of other magazines tighten their ships a bit, yes?

I think THAT's the greatest achievement of this scandal; NO ONE else wants to be "snookered" like this and have to do what JVC.SAGE had to do. JVC.SAGE has done a tremendous service to science and industry by being forthright and revealing the truth.

oh fuck off maggots

all those "science" clowns care about is taking credit for shite that isn't worth the paper it is written on and keeping the charade of astronomy going

the amount of damage that it is and has done to the human race is leaving much blood on their hands