Retractions, Post-Publication Peer Review, and Fraud: Scientific Publishing’s Wild West

Presented by Ivan Oransky, Co-founder, Retraction Watch

Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus founded Retraction Watch in 2010. Unbeknownst to them, retractions had grown ten-fold in the previous decade. Oransky will discuss the reasons for that increase, whether fraud is on the rise, the growth of post-publication peer review, and other trends he and Marcus have seen as they’ve built a site that is now viewed by 150,000 people per month, and has been funded by philanthropies including the MacArthur Foundation. The database is available at retractiondatabase.org.

** Breakfast will be provided

This presentation is part of International Open Access Week. 

This year’s theme, “Designing equitable foundations for open knowledge”, reflects a scholarly system in transition. While governments, funders, universities, publishers, and scholars are increasingly adopting open policies and practices, how these are actually implemented is still in flux. As open becomes the default, all stakeholders must be intentional about designing these new, open systems to ensure that they are inclusive, equitable, and truly serve the needs of a diverse global community. This year’s Open Access Week invites all interested stakeholders to participate in advancing this important work.