Further legal attempts to silence scientific discourse, Retraction Watch has been threatened by a law firm acting on behalf of Bharat Aggarwal.
This is getting ridiculous. Take a look at the facts.
Anil Potti, disgraced medical researcher at Duke was running ‘trials” that put lives at risk. Statements of fact at Retraction Watch regarding the official investigations into Anil Potti resulted in a false DMCA take down notice being issued to Retraction Watch (posts here and here with links).
Bharat Aggarwal’s work is under official investigation and some of the many papers highlighted on varous blogs (more about these below) have been retracted and these retractions have been featured on Retraction Watch.
Retraction Watch only reports on retractions and official investigations by ORI, Universities, etc.
The post on Retraction Watch has brought to my notice the demise of Abnormal Science. If you recall, it was move, but now has been taken down. One surmises that this is due to legal pressure on the owner. With Science Fraud also out of action, there is nowhere to highlight papers with problems.
Also worth reading on the subject is Philip Moriarty’s excellent post at IOP on the problems with the reviewing process and complacency.
This all really does that science has a problem. Most scientists are honest, but some are not. This afternoon I had the pleasure of leading three small groups of students from Wirral Grammar School on a lab tour, taking in nanoparticles and photothermal microscopy. A really great bunch of young people. If most scientists remain complacent today, they are not just complicit and betraying themselves, but also future generations.
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