1
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Bik EM. Finding the truth in science. Nat Rev Cancer 2024:10.1038/s41568-024-00702-w. [PMID: 38755440 DOI: 10.1038/s41568-024-00702-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
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2
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Zhu L, Lai Y, Mou W, Zhang H, Lin A, Qi C, Yang T, Xu L, Zhang J, Luo P. ChatGPT's ability to generate realistic experimental images poses a new challenge to academic integrity. J Hematol Oncol 2024; 17:27. [PMID: 38693553 PMCID: PMC11064365 DOI: 10.1186/s13045-024-01543-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024] Open
Abstract
The rapid advancements in large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT have raised concerns about their potential impact on academic integrity. While initial concerns focused on ChatGPT's writing capabilities, recent updates have integrated DALL-E 3's image generation features, extending the risks to visual evidence in biomedical research. Our tests revealed ChatGPT's nearly barrier-free image generation feature can be used to generate experimental result images, such as blood smears, Western Blot, immunofluorescence and so on. Although the current ability of ChatGPT to generate experimental images is limited, the risk of misuse is evident. This development underscores the need for immediate action. We suggest that AI providers restrict the generation of experimental image, develop tools to detect AI-generated images, and consider adding "invisible watermarks" to the generated images. By implementing these measures, we can better ensure the responsible use of AI technology in academic research and maintain the integrity of scientific evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingxuan Zhu
- Department of Oncology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, 510282, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Yancheng Lai
- Department of Oncology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, 510282, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Weiming Mou
- Department of Urology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Haoran Zhang
- Department of Oncology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, 510282, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Anqi Lin
- Department of Oncology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, 510282, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Chang Qi
- Institute of Logic and Computation, TU Wien, Wien, Austria
| | - Tao Yang
- Department of Medical Oncology, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer /Cancer Hospital, National Cancer Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Liling Xu
- Department of Oncology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, 510282, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Jian Zhang
- Department of Oncology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, 510282, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
| | - Peng Luo
- Department of Oncology, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 253 Industrial Avenue, 510282, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
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3
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Rillig MC, Mansour I, Hempel S, Bi M, König-Ries B, Kasirzadeh A. How widespread use of generative AI for images and video can affect the environment and the science of ecology. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14397. [PMID: 38430051 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 02/18/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) models will have broad impacts on society including the scientific enterprise; ecology and environmental science will be no exception. Here, we discuss the potential opportunities and risks of advanced generative AI for visual material (images and video) for the science of ecology and the environment itself. There are clearly opportunities for positive impacts, related to improved communication, for example; we also see possibilities for ecological research to benefit from generative AI (e.g., image gap filling, biodiversity surveys, and improved citizen science). However, there are also risks, threatening to undermine the credibility of our science, mostly related to actions of bad actors, for example in terms of spreading fake information or committing fraud. Risks need to be mitigated at the level of government regulatory measures, but we also highlight what can be done right now, including discussing issues with the next generation of ecologists and transforming towards radically open science workflows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias C Rillig
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Berlin, Germany
| | - India Mansour
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefan Hempel
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Berlin, Germany
| | - Mohan Bi
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Berlin, Germany
| | - Birgitta König-Ries
- Heinz-Nixdorf Chair for Distributed Information Systems, Institute for Informatics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Atoosa Kasirzadeh
- The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Alan Turing Institute, London, UK
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4
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Schmied C, Nelson MS, Avilov S, Bakker GJ, Bertocchi C, Bischof J, Boehm U, Brocher J, Carvalho MT, Chiritescu C, Christopher J, Cimini BA, Conde-Sousa E, Ebner M, Ecker R, Eliceiri K, Fernandez-Rodriguez J, Gaudreault N, Gelman L, Grunwald D, Gu T, Halidi N, Hammer M, Hartley M, Held M, Jug F, Kapoor V, Koksoy AA, Lacoste J, Le Dévédec S, Le Guyader S, Liu P, Martins GG, Mathur A, Miura K, Montero Llopis P, Nitschke R, North A, Parslow AC, Payne-Dwyer A, Plantard L, Ali R, Schroth-Diez B, Schütz L, Scott RT, Seitz A, Selchow O, Sharma VP, Spitaler M, Srinivasan S, Strambio-De-Castillia C, Taatjes D, Tischer C, Jambor HK. Community-developed checklists for publishing images and image analyses. Nat Methods 2024; 21:170-181. [PMID: 37710020 PMCID: PMC10922596 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-023-01987-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
Images document scientific discoveries and are prevalent in modern biomedical research. Microscopy imaging in particular is currently undergoing rapid technological advancements. However, for scientists wishing to publish obtained images and image-analysis results, there are currently no unified guidelines for best practices. Consequently, microscopy images and image data in publications may be unclear or difficult to interpret. Here, we present community-developed checklists for preparing light microscopy images and describing image analyses for publications. These checklists offer authors, readers and publishers key recommendations for image formatting and annotation, color selection, data availability and reporting image-analysis workflows. The goal of our guidelines is to increase the clarity and reproducibility of image figures and thereby to heighten the quality and explanatory power of microscopy data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Schmied
- Fondazione Human Technopole, Milano, Italy.
- Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin, Germany.
| | - Michael S Nelson
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Sergiy Avilov
- Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Gert-Jan Bakker
- Medical BioSciences Department, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Cristina Bertocchi
- Laboratory for Molecular Mechanics of Cell Adhesions, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago, Santiago de Chile, Chile
- Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | | | | | - Jan Brocher
- Scientific Image Processing and Analysis, BioVoxxel, Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Mariana T Carvalho
- Nanophotonics and BioImaging Facility at INL, International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Braga, Portugal
| | | | - Jana Christopher
- Biochemistry Center Heidelberg, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Beth A Cimini
- Imaging Platform, Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Eduardo Conde-Sousa
- i3S, Instituto de Investigação e Inovação Em Saúde and INEB, Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Michael Ebner
- Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Berlin, Germany
| | - Rupert Ecker
- Translational Research Institute, Queensland University of Technology, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- TissueGnostics GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Kevin Eliceiri
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Julia Fernandez-Rodriguez
- Centre for Cellular Imaging Core Facility, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | - Laurent Gelman
- Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
| | - David Grunwald
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | | | - Nadia Halidi
- Advanced Light Microscopy Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mathias Hammer
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Matthew Hartley
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK
| | - Marie Held
- Centre for Cell Imaging, the University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | | | - Varun Kapoor
- Department of AI Research, Kapoor Labs, Paris, France
| | | | | | - Sylvia Le Dévédec
- Division of Drug Discovery and Safety, Cell Observatory, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | | | - Penghuan Liu
- Key Laboratory for Modern Measurement Technology and Instruments of Zhejiang Province, College of Optical and Electronic Technology, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Gabriel G Martins
- Advanced Imaging Facility, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal
| | | | - Kota Miura
- Bioimage Analysis and Research, Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Roland Nitschke
- Life Imaging Center, Signalling Research Centres CIBSS and BIOSS, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Alison North
- Bio-Imaging Resource Center, the Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Adam C Parslow
- Baker Institute Microscopy Platform, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Alex Payne-Dwyer
- School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, University of York, Heslington, UK
| | - Laure Plantard
- Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Rizwan Ali
- King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Medical Research Core Facility and Platforms (MRCFP), King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Britta Schroth-Diez
- Light Microscopy Facility, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | | | - Ryan T Scott
- Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
| | - Arne Seitz
- BioImaging and Optics Platform, Faculty of Life Sciences (SV), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Olaf Selchow
- Microscopy and BioImaging Consulting, Image Processing and Large Data Handling, Gera, Germany
| | - Ved P Sharma
- Bio-Imaging Resource Center, the Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Sathya Srinivasan
- Imaging and Morphology Support Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center, OHSU West Campus, Beaverton, OR, USA
| | | | - Douglas Taatjes
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Microscopy Imaging Center, Center for Biomedical Shared Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
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5
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Jones N. How journals are fighting back against a wave of questionable images. Nature 2024; 626:697-698. [PMID: 38347210 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-024-00372-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
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6
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Ioannidis JPA, Maniadis Z. Quantitative research assessment: using metrics against gamed metrics. Intern Emerg Med 2024; 19:39-47. [PMID: 37921985 PMCID: PMC10827896 DOI: 10.1007/s11739-023-03447-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/05/2023]
Abstract
Quantitative bibliometric indicators are widely used and widely misused for research assessments. Some metrics have acquired major importance in shaping and rewarding the careers of millions of scientists. Given their perceived prestige, they may be widely gamed in the current "publish or perish" or "get cited or perish" environment. This review examines several gaming practices, including authorship-based, citation-based, editorial-based, and journal-based gaming as well as gaming with outright fabrication. Different patterns are discussed, including massive authorship of papers without meriting credit (gift authorship), team work with over-attribution of authorship to too many people (salami slicing of credit), massive self-citations, citation farms, H-index gaming, journalistic (editorial) nepotism, journal impact factor gaming, paper mills and spurious content papers, and spurious massive publications for studies with demanding designs. For all of those gaming practices, quantitative metrics and analyses may be able to help in their detection and in placing them into perspective. A portfolio of quantitative metrics may also include indicators of best research practices (e.g., data sharing, code sharing, protocol registration, and replications) and poor research practices (e.g., signs of image manipulation). Rigorous, reproducible, transparent quantitative metrics that also inform about gaming may strengthen the legacy and practices of quantitative appraisals of scientific work.
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Affiliation(s)
- John P A Ioannidis
- Departments of Medicine, of Epidemiology and Population Health, of Biomedical Data Science, and of Statistics, and Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICS), Stanford University, SPRC, MSOB X306, 1265 Welch Rd, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
| | - Zacharias Maniadis
- SInnoPSis (Science and Innovation Policy and Studies) Unit, Department of Economics, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
- Department of Economics, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
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7
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Cowles K, Miller R, Suppok R. When Seeing Isn't Believing: Navigating Visual Health Misinformation through Library Instruction. Med Ref Serv Q 2024; 43:44-58. [PMID: 38237023 DOI: 10.1080/02763869.2024.2290963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Visual misinformation poses unique challenges to public health due to its potential for persuasiveness and rapid spread on social media. In this article, librarians at the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library System identify four types of visual health misinformation: misleading graphs and charts, out of context visuals, image manipulation in scientific publications, and AI-generated images and videos. To educate our campus's health sciences audience and wider community on these topics, we have developed a range of instruction about visual health misinformation. We describe our strategies and provide suggestions for implementing visual misinformation programming for a variety of audiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsey Cowles
- Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Rebekah Miller
- Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Rachel Suppok
- Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
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8
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Cho DY, Bishop J, Grayson J, Woodworth BA. Inappropriate image duplications in rhinology research publications. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol 2024; 14:119-122. [PMID: 37358402 PMCID: PMC10749980 DOI: 10.1002/alr.23226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023]
Abstract
KEY POINTS Duplicated images in research articles erode integrity and credibility of biomedical science. Forensic software is necessary to detect figures with inappropriately duplicated images. This analysis reveals a significant issue of inappropriate image duplication in our field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Do-Yeon Cho
- Department of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
- Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
- Division of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery, Veterans Affairs, Birmingham Alabama, United States of America
| | - Jessica Bishop
- Department of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Jessica Grayson
- Department of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Bradford A. Woodworth
- Department of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
- Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
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9
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Jambor HK. A community-driven approach to enhancing the quality and interpretability of microscopy images. J Cell Sci 2023; 136:jcs261837. [PMID: 38095680 DOI: 10.1242/jcs.261837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Scientific publications in the life sciences regularly include image data to display and communicate revelations about cellular structure and function. In 2016, a set of guiding principles known as the 'FAIR Data Principles' were put forward to ensure that research data are findable, accessible, interoperable and reproducible. However, challenges still persist regarding the quality, accessibility and interpretability of image data, and how to effectively communicate microscopy data in figures. This Perspective article details a community-driven initiative that aims to promote the accurate and understandable depiction of light microscopy data in publications. The initiative underscores the crucial role of global and diverse scientific communities in advancing the standards in the field of biological images. Additionally, the perspective delves into the historical context of scientific images, in the hope that this look into our past can help ongoing community efforts move forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Klara Jambor
- National Center for Tumor Diseases - University Cancer Center (NCT-UCC), Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus an der Technischen Universität Dresden, Dresden 01307, Germany
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10
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Jacques T, Sleiman R, Diaz MI, Dartus J. Artificial intelligence: Emergence and possible fraudulent use in medical publishing. Orthop Traumatol Surg Res 2023; 109:103709. [PMID: 37852535 DOI: 10.1016/j.otsr.2023.103709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Thibaut Jacques
- IRIS Imagerie, 144, avenue de Dunkerque, 59000 Lille, France.
| | - Rita Sleiman
- Centre de recherche et d'innovation de Talan, 14, rue Pergolèse, 75116 Paris, France
| | - Manuel I Diaz
- Centre de recherche et d'innovation de Talan, 14, rue Pergolèse, 75116 Paris, France
| | - Julien Dartus
- Département universitaire de chirurgie orthopédique et traumatologique, hôpital Roger-Salengro, CHU de Lille ULR 4490, université de Lille, place de Verdun, 59037 Lille, France; U1008 - Controlled Drug Delivery Systems and Biomaterials, CHU de Lille, University Lille, Inserm, 59000 Lille, France
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11
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Oza A. AI beats human sleuth at finding problematic images in research papers. Nature 2023; 622:230. [PMID: 37789202 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-02920-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
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12
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Zecca PA, Marcella R, Andrea B, Marina P, Marina B, Mario R. The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence: The Possible Risk of Falsifying Images for Scientific Articles. MICROSCOPY AND MICROANALYSIS : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY SOCIETY OF AMERICA, MICROBEAM ANALYSIS SOCIETY, MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 2023; 29:1688-1693. [PMID: 37632734 DOI: 10.1093/micmic/ozad093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/28/2023]
Abstract
This article explores the potential risks associated with using artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images in the field of microscopy. It discusses the current state-of-the-art AI-based image-generation techniques and their limitations. It investigates the potential risks associated with the illegal use of AI-generated images, including their use in creating falsified scientific data and the consequences of such misuse. The article concludes by exploring possible solutions to mitigate these risks, such as implementing robust authentication methods and developing ethical guidelines for using and disseminating AI-generated images in the field of microscopy. Additionally, the article also presents the results of a survey involving 101 professionals, showing that the recognition of authentic and entirely AI-generated images is performed well. But, the detection of hybrid images could be improved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piero Antonio Zecca
- Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, via Guicciardini 9, Varese 21100, Italy
| | - Reguzzoni Marcella
- Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, via Guicciardini 9, Varese 21100, Italy
| | - Brambilla Andrea
- Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, via Guicciardini 9, Varese 21100, Italy
| | - Protasoni Marina
- Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, via Guicciardini 9, Varese 21100, Italy
| | - Borgese Marina
- Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, via Guicciardini 9, Varese 21100, Italy
| | - Raspanti Mario
- Department of Medicine and Technological Innovation, via Guicciardini 9, Varese 21100, Italy
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13
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Schmied C, Nelson MS, Avilov S, Bakker GJ, Bertocchi C, Bischof J, Boehm U, Brocher J, Carvalho M, Chiritescu C, Christopher J, Cimini BA, Conde-Sousa E, Ebner M, Ecker R, Eliceiri K, Fernandez-Rodriguez J, Gaudreault N, Gelman L, Grunwald D, Gu T, Halidi N, Hammer M, Hartley M, Held M, Jug F, Kapoor V, Koksoy AA, Lacoste J, Dévédec SL, Guyader SL, Liu P, Martins GG, Mathur A, Miura K, Montero Llopis P, Nitschke R, North A, Parslow AC, Payne-Dwyer A, Plantard L, Ali R, Schroth-Diez B, Schütz L, Scott RT, Seitz A, Selchow O, Sharma VP, Spitaler M, Srinivasan S, Strambio-De-Castillia C, Taatjes D, Tischer C, Jambor HK. Community-developed checklists for publishing images and image analyses. ARXIV 2023:arXiv:2302.07005v2. [PMID: 36824427 PMCID: PMC9949169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
Images document scientific discoveries and are prevalent in modern biomedical research. Microscopy imaging in particular is currently undergoing rapid technological advancements. However for scientists wishing to publish the obtained images and image analyses results, there are to date no unified guidelines. Consequently, microscopy images and image data in publications may be unclear or difficult to interpret. Here we present community-developed checklists for preparing light microscopy images and image analysis for publications. These checklists offer authors, readers, and publishers key recommendations for image formatting and annotation, color selection, data availability, and for reporting image analysis workflows. The goal of our guidelines is to increase the clarity and reproducibility of image figures and thereby heighten the quality and explanatory power of microscopy data is in publications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Schmied
- Fondazione Human Technopole, Viale Rita Levi-Montalcini 1, 20157 Milano, Italy
- Present address: Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael S Nelson
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Sergiy Avilov
- Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Gert-Jan Bakker
- Medical BioSciences department, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Cristina Bertocchi
- Laboratory for Molecular mechanics of cell adhesions, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago
- Osaka University, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Japan
| | - Johanna Bischof
- Euro-BioImaging ERIC, Bio-Hub, Meyerhofstr. 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ulrike Boehm
- Carl Zeiss AG, Carl-Zeiss-Straße 22, 73447 Oberkochen, Germany
| | - Jan Brocher
- BioVoxxel, Scientific Image Processing and Analysis, Eugen-Roth-Strasse 8, 67071 Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Mariana Carvalho
- Nanophotonics and BioImaging Facility at INL, International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, 4715-330, Portugal
| | | | | | - Beth A Cimini
- Imaging Platform, Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA 02142
| | - Eduardo Conde-Sousa
- i3S, Instituto de Investigação e Inovação Em Saúde and INEB, Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Michael Ebner
- Fondazione Human Technopole, Viale Rita Levi-Montalcini 1, 20157 Milano, Italy
| | - Rupert Ecker
- Translational Research Institute, Queensland University of Technology, 37 Kent Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4059, Australia
- TissueGnostics GmbH, 1020 Vienna, Austria
| | - Kevin Eliceiri
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | | | | | - Laurent Gelman
- Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
| | - David Grunwald
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | | | - Nadia Halidi
- Advanced Light Microscopy Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mathias Hammer
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Matthew Hartley
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, UK
| | - Marie Held
- Centre for Cell Imaging, The University of Liverpool, UK
| | - Florian Jug
- Fondazione Human Technopole, Viale Rita Levi-Montalcini 1, 20157 Milano, Italy
| | - Varun Kapoor
- Department of AI research, Kapoor Labs, Paris, 75005, France
| | | | | | - Sylvia Le Dévédec
- Division of Drug Discovery and Safety, Cell Observatory, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Penghuan Liu
- Key Laboratory for Modern Measurement Technology and Instruments of Zhejiang Province, College of Optical and Electronic Technology, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Gabriel G Martins
- Advanced Imaging Facility, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras 2780-156 - Portugal
| | - Aastha Mathur
- Euro-BioImaging ERIC, Bio-Hub, Meyerhofstr. 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kota Miura
- Bioimage Analysis & Research, 69127 Heidelberg/Germany
| | | | - Roland Nitschke
- Life Imaging Center, Signalling Research Centres CIBSS and BIOSS, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Alison North
- Bio-Imaging Resource Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY USA
| | - Adam C Parslow
- Baker Institute Microscopy Platform, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
| | - Alex Payne-Dwyer
- School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, University of York, Heslington, YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Laure Plantard
- Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Rizwan Ali
- King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Medical Research Core Facility and Platforms (MRCFP), King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS), Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (MNGHA), Riyadh 11481, Saudi Arabia
| | - Britta Schroth-Diez
- Light Microscopy Facility, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics Dresden, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Lucas Schütz
- ariadne.ai (Germany) GmbH, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ryan T Scott
- Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 94035, USA
| | - Arne Seitz
- BioImaging & Optics Platform (BIOP), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Faculty of Life sciences (SV), CH-1015 Lausanne
| | - Olaf Selchow
- Microscopy & BioImaging Consulting, Image Processing & Large Data Handling, Tobias-Hoppe-Strassse 3, 07548 Gera, Germany
| | - Ved P Sharma
- Bio-Imaging Resource Center, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY USA
| | - Martin Spitaler
- Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Sathya Srinivasan
- Imaging and Morphology Support Core, Oregon National Primate Research Center - (ONPRC - OHSU West Campus), Beaverton, Oregon 97006, USA
| | | | - Douglas Taatjes
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Microscopy Imaging Center (RRID# SCR_018821), Center for Biomedical Shared Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405 USA
| | - Christian Tischer
- Centre for Bioimage Analysis, EMBL Heidelberg, Meyerhofstr. 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Helena Klara Jambor
- NCT-UCC, Medizinische Fakultät TU Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 105, 01307 Dresden/Germany
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14
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Rosenblatt M, Dadashkarimi J, Scheinost D. Gradient-based enhancement attacks in biomedical machine learning. ARXIV 2023:arXiv:2301.01885v2. [PMID: 36713237 PMCID: PMC9882585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
The prevalence of machine learning in biomedical research is rapidly growing, yet the trustworthiness of such research is often overlooked. While some previous works have investigated the ability of adversarial attacks to degrade model performance in medical imaging, the ability to falsely improve performance via recently-developed "enhancement attacks" may be a greater threat to biomedical machine learning. In the spirit of developing attacks to better understand trustworthiness, we developed two techniques to drastically enhance prediction performance of classifiers with minimal changes to features: 1) general enhancement of prediction performance, and 2) enhancement of a particular method over another. Our enhancement framework falsely improved classifiers' accuracy from 50% to almost 100% while maintaining high feature similarities between original and enhanced data (Pearson's r's > 0.99). Similarly, the method-specific enhancement framework was effective in falsely improving the performance of one method over another. For example, a simple neural network outperformed logistic regression by 17% on our enhanced dataset, although no performance differences were present in the original dataset. Crucially, the original and enhanced data were still similar (r = 0.99). Our results demonstrate the feasibility of minor data manipulations to achieve any desired prediction performance, which presents an interesting ethical challenge for the future of biomedical machine learning. These findings emphasize the need for more robust data provenance tracking and other precautionary measures to ensure the integrity of biomedical machine learning research. Code is available at https://github.com/mattrosenblatt7/enhancement_EPIMI.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Dustin Scheinost
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University
- Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine
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15
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Rosenblatt M, Rodriguez RX, Westwater ML, Dai W, Horien C, Greene AS, Constable RT, Noble S, Scheinost D. Connectome-based machine learning models are vulnerable to subtle data manipulations. PATTERNS (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2023; 4:100756. [PMID: 37521052 PMCID: PMC10382940 DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2023.100756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Revised: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Neuroimaging-based predictive models continue to improve in performance, yet a widely overlooked aspect of these models is "trustworthiness," or robustness to data manipulations. High trustworthiness is imperative for researchers to have confidence in their findings and interpretations. In this work, we used functional connectomes to explore how minor data manipulations influence machine learning predictions. These manipulations included a method to falsely enhance prediction performance and adversarial noise attacks designed to degrade performance. Although these data manipulations drastically changed model performance, the original and manipulated data were extremely similar (r = 0.99) and did not affect other downstream analysis. Essentially, connectome data could be inconspicuously modified to achieve any desired prediction performance. Overall, our enhancement attacks and evaluation of existing adversarial noise attacks in connectome-based models highlight the need for counter-measures that improve the trustworthiness to preserve the integrity of academic research and any potential translational applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Rosenblatt
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Raimundo X. Rodriguez
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Margaret L. Westwater
- Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Wei Dai
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Corey Horien
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Abigail S. Greene
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - R. Todd Constable
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Stephanie Noble
- Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
| | - Dustin Scheinost
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Department of Statistics & Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
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16
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Candal-Pedreira C, Rey-Brandariz J, Varela-Lema L, Pérez-Ríos M, Ruano-Ravina A. Challenges in peer review: how to guarantee the quality and transparency of the editorial process in scientific journals. An Pediatr (Barc) 2023:S2341-2879(23)00133-3. [PMID: 37349245 DOI: 10.1016/j.anpede.2023.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The editorial process of scientific journals is complex but essential for the dissemination of scientific knowledge. The quality of the process depends on the authors, editors and reviewers, who must have the necessary experience and knowledge to ensure the quality of the published articles. One of the most significant challenges scientific journals face today is the peer review of manuscripts. Editors are responsible for coordinating and overseeing the entire editorial process, from manuscript submission to final publication, and ensuring that articles meet ethical and scientific integrity standards. Editors are also in charge of selecting appropriate reviewers. However, the latter is becoming difficult due to the increasing refusal of expert reviewers to participate in the editorial process. The reasons for it are diverse, but the lack of recognition for review work and reviewer fatigue in the most sought-after reviewers are among the most important. Some of the measures that could be taken to alleviate the problem concern the possibility of professionalizing peer review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Candal-Pedreira
- Área de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Julia Rey-Brandariz
- Área de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Leonor Varela-Lema
- Área de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain; CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mónica Pérez-Ríos
- Área de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain; CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alberto Ruano-Ravina
- Área de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
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17
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Garfinkel S, Alam S, Baskin P, Bennett C, Carruthers B, Engler J, Flanagin A, Garrity S, Graf C, Imperiale MJ, King C, Kleinert S, Kulp D, Mankowski C, Nugent N, Pulvirenti T, Qualkenbush L, Sobiecki E, Wainstock D, Wilfong E, Wold L, Yucel J. Enhancing Partnerships of Institutions and Journals to Address Concerns About Research Misconduct: Recommendations From a Working Group of Institutional Research Integrity Officers and Journal Editors and Publishers. JAMA Netw Open 2023; 6:e2320796. [PMID: 37378978 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.20796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Importance Institutions and journals strive to promote and protect the integrity of the research record, and both groups are equally committed to ensuring the reliability of all published data. Observations Three US universities coordinated a series of virtual meetings from June 2021 to March 2022 for a working group composed of senior, experienced US research integrity officers (RIOs), journal editors, and publishing staff who are familiar with managing issues of research integrity and publication ethics. The goal of the working group was to improve the collaboration and transparency between institutions and journals to ensure that research misconduct and publication ethics are managed properly and efficiently. Recommendations address the following: identifying proper contacts at institutions and journals, specifying information to share between institutions and journals, correcting the research record, reconsideration of some fundamental research misconduct concepts, and journal policy changes. The working group identified 3 key recommendations to be adopted and implemented to change the status quo for better collaboration between institutions and journals: (1) reconsideration and broadening of the interpretation by institutions of the need-to-know criteria in federal regulations (ie, confidential or sensitive information and data are not disclosed unless there is a need for an individual to know the facts to perform specific jobs or functions), (2) uncoupling the evaluation of the accuracy and validity of research data from the determination of culpability and intent of the individuals involved, and (3) initiating a widespread change for the policies of journals and publishers regarding the timing and appropriateness for contacting institutions, either before or concurrently under certain conditions, when contacting the authors. Conclusions and Relevance The working group recommends specific changes to the status quo to enable effective communication between institutions and journals. Using confidentiality clauses and agreements to impede sharing does not benefit the scientific community nor the integrity of the research record. However, a careful and informed framework for improving communications and sharing information between institutions and journals can foster better working relationships, trust, transparency, and most importantly, faster resolution to data integrity issues, especially in published literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Garfinkel
- Office of Research Compliance, The Ohio State University, Columbus
| | - Sabina Alam
- Publishing Ethics and Integrity, Taylor and Francis Group Journals, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | - Patricia Baskin
- Neurology Journals, American Academy of Neurology, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| | - Christina Bennett
- Editorial Development, American Chemical Society, Washington, District of Columbia
| | | | - Jeffrey Engler
- Council of Graduate Schools, Washington, District of Columbia
| | | | - Sheila Garrity
- Office of Research Integrity, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
- Office of Research Integrity, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, Maryland
| | - Chris Graf
- Research Integrity Group, Springer Nature, London, United Kingdom
| | - Michael J Imperiale
- Now with Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- mSphere , American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC
- Office of Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
| | - Christopher King
- Office of Research Integrity and Safety, University of Georgia, Athens
| | | | - Dan Kulp
- Editorial Development, American Chemical Society, Washington, District of Columbia
| | | | - Nicola Nugent
- Publishing Ethics, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Teodoro Pulvirenti
- Editorial Development, American Chemical Society, Washington, District of Columbia
| | - Lauran Qualkenbush
- Office for Research Integrity and Training, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Emily Sobiecki
- Office of the General Counsel, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Daniel Wainstock
- Office for Academic and Research Integrity, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Erica Wilfong
- Research Integrity Group, Springer Nature, Heidelberg, Germany
- EMBO Press, EMBO, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Loren Wold
- College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus
- Life Sciences , Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jennifer Yucel
- Office of Research Compliance, The Ohio State University, Columbus
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18
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Neely BA, Dorfer V, Martens L, Bludau I, Bouwmeester R, Degroeve S, Deutsch EW, Gessulat S, Käll L, Palczynski P, Payne SH, Rehfeldt TG, Schmidt T, Schwämmle V, Uszkoreit J, Vizcaíno JA, Wilhelm M, Palmblad M. Toward an Integrated Machine Learning Model of a Proteomics Experiment. J Proteome Res 2023; 22:681-696. [PMID: 36744821 PMCID: PMC9990124 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.2c00711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
In recent years machine learning has made extensive progress in modeling many aspects of mass spectrometry data. We brought together proteomics data generators, repository managers, and machine learning experts in a workshop with the goals to evaluate and explore machine learning applications for realistic modeling of data from multidimensional mass spectrometry-based proteomics analysis of any sample or organism. Following this sample-to-data roadmap helped identify knowledge gaps and define needs. Being able to generate bespoke and realistic synthetic data has legitimate and important uses in system suitability, method development, and algorithm benchmarking, while also posing critical ethical questions. The interdisciplinary nature of the workshop informed discussions of what is currently possible and future opportunities and challenges. In the following perspective we summarize these discussions in the hope of conveying our excitement about the potential of machine learning in proteomics and to inspire future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin A Neely
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Charleston, South Carolina 29412, United States
| | - Viktoria Dorfer
- Bioinformatics Research Group, University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Softwarepark 11, 4232 Hagenberg, Austria
| | - Lennart Martens
- VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology, VIB, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.,Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Isabell Bludau
- Department of Proteomics and Signal Transduction, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Robbin Bouwmeester
- VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology, VIB, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.,Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Sven Degroeve
- VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology, VIB, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.,Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Eric W Deutsch
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Washington 98109, United States
| | | | - Lukas Käll
- Science for Life Laboratory, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, 171 21 Solna, Sweden
| | - Pawel Palczynski
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark
| | - Samuel H Payne
- Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602, United States
| | - Tobias Greisager Rehfeldt
- Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark
| | | | - Veit Schwämmle
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense, Denmark
| | - Julian Uszkoreit
- Medical Proteome Analysis, Center for Protein Diagnostics (ProDi), Ruhr University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany.,Medizinisches Proteom-Center, Medical Faculty, Ruhr University Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany
| | - Juan Antonio Vizcaíno
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, United Kingdom
| | - Mathias Wilhelm
- Computational Mass Spectrometry, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Magnus Palmblad
- Leiden University Medical Center, Postbus 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands
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19
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Shen Y, Heacock L, Elias J, Hentel KD, Reig B, Shih G, Moy L. ChatGPT and Other Large Language Models Are Double-edged Swords. Radiology 2023; 307:e230163. [PMID: 36700838 DOI: 10.1148/radiol.230163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 193] [Impact Index Per Article: 193.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Yiqiu Shen
- New York University, Center for Data Science, 60 5th Ave, New York, NY 10011
| | - Laura Heacock
- New York University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, 160 E 34th St, New York, NY 10016
| | - Jonathan Elias
- Weill Cornell Medicine, Department of Primary Care, 525 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065
| | - Keith D Hentel
- Weill Cornell Medicine, Department of Radiology, 525 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065
| | - Beatriu Reig
- New York University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, 160 E 34th St, New York, NY 10016
| | - George Shih
- Weill Cornell Medicine, Department of Radiology, 525 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065
| | - Linda Moy
- New York University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, 160 E 34th St, New York, NY 10016
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20
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Kane A, Amin B. Amending the literature through version control. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20220463. [PMID: 36651029 PMCID: PMC9845965 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The ideal of self-correction in science is not well served by the current culture and system surrounding amendments to published literature. Here we describe our view of how amendments could and should work by drawing on the idea of an author-led version control system. We report a survey (n = 132) that highlights academics' dissatisfaction with the status quo and their support for such an alternative approach. Authors would include a link in their published manuscripts to an updatable website (e.g. a GitHub repository) that could be disseminated in the event of any amendment. Such a system is already in place for computer code and requires nothing but buy-in from the scientific community-a community that is already evolving towards open science frameworks. This would remove a number of frictions that discourage amendments leading to an improved scientific literature and a healthier academic climate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Kane
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, O'Brien Science Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Bawan Amin
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, O'Brien Science Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland,Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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21
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Who games metrics and rankings? Institutional niches and journal impact factor inflation. RESEARCH POLICY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2022.104608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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22
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SILA: a system for scientific image analysis. Sci Rep 2022; 12:18306. [PMID: 36316363 PMCID: PMC9622827 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21535-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
A great deal of the images found in scientific publications are retouched, reused, or composed to enhance the quality of the presentation. In most instances, these edits are benign and help the reader better understand the material in a paper. However, some edits are instances of scientific misconduct and undermine the integrity of the presented research. Determining the legitimacy of edits made to scientific images is an open problem that no current technology can perform satisfactorily in a fully automated fashion. It thus remains up to human experts to inspect images as part of the peer-review process. Nonetheless, image analysis technologies promise to become helpful to experts to perform such an essential yet arduous task. Therefore, we introduce SILA, a system that makes image analysis tools available to reviewers and editors in a principled way. Further, SILA is the first human-in-the-loop end-to-end system that starts by processing article PDF files, performs image manipulation detection on the automatically extracted figures, and ends with image provenance graphs expressing the relationships between the images in question, to explain potential problems. To assess its efficacy, we introduce a dataset of scientific papers from around the globe containing annotated image manipulations and inadvertent reuse, which can serve as a benchmark for the problem at hand. Qualitative and quantitative results of the system are described using this dataset.
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23
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A critical path to producing high quality, reproducible data from quantitative western blot experiments. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17599. [PMID: 36266411 PMCID: PMC9585080 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22294-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Western blotting experiments were initially performed to detect a target protein in a complex biological sample and more recently, to measure relative protein abundance. Chemiluminescence coupled with film-based detection was traditionally the gold standard for western blotting but accurate and reproducible quantification has been a major challenge from this methodology. The development of sensitive, camera-based detection technologies coupled with an updated technical approach permits the production of reproducible, quantitative data. Fluorescence reagent and detection solutions are the latest innovation in western blotting but there remains questions and debate concerning their relative sensitivity and dynamic range versus chemiluminescence. A methodology to optimize and produce excellent, quantitative western blot results with rigorous data analysis from membranes probed with both fluorescent and chemiluminescent antibodies is described. The data reveal when and how to apply these detection methods to achieve reproducible data with a stepwise approach to data processing for quantitative analysis.
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24
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Day A. Exploratory analysis of text duplication in peer-review reveals peer-review fraud and paper mills. Scientometrics 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11192-022-04504-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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25
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Wheeler TR, Delgado D, Albert PJ, Ben Maamar S, Oxley PR. Transforming and extending library services by embracing technology and collaborations: A case study. Health Info Libr J 2022; 39:294-298. [PMID: 35734785 PMCID: PMC9796915 DOI: 10.1111/hir.12439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Technology advances and collaborations with information technology and computer science groups have enabled library services to expand into new domains. Listening to user needs, eliminating administrative burden and saving users time remain strong foundations on which to build new library services enabled by technology. Examples of what is now possible is described, including service to user groups, successes, failures and challenges. Although technology advances have enabled library service enhancements to all user groups, special emphasis on new library services in support of the research enterprise is discussed. As Lindberg and Humphreys predicted in 2015, the research enterprise's need for responsible curation of research data has created new opportunities for library services and examples of those services are discussed. As technology continues to advance, new library services are expected to emerge. These may include regulatory and compliance services. By developing these services with user feedback to save users time and expedite their work, and in collaboration with technology experts, libraries can expect to offer sustainable and valued services for years to come.
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Affiliation(s)
- Terrie R. Wheeler
- Weill Cornell Medicine Samuel J. Wood Library and C.V. Starr Biomedical Information CenterNew YorkNew YorkUSA
| | - Diana Delgado
- Information, Education and Clinical ServicesWeill Cornell Medicine Samuel J. Wood Library and C.V. Starr Biomedical Information CenterNew YorkNew YorkUSA
| | - Paul J. Albert
- Information Technologies & ServicesWeill Cornell MedicineNew YorkNew YorkUSA
| | - Sarah Ben Maamar
- Weill Cornell Medicine Samuel J. Wood Library and C.V. Starr Biomedical Information CenterNew YorkNew YorkUSA
| | - Peter R. Oxley
- Weill Cornell Medicine Samuel J. Wood Library and C.V. Starr Biomedical Information CenterNew YorkNew YorkUSA
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26
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Sustained Rise in Retractions in the Life Sciences Literature during the Pandemic Years 2020 and 2021. PUBLICATIONS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/publications10030029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to all human endeavors, and scientific research has not been spared. We queried how the retraction of publications might have been affected during the pandemic years 2020–2021. Searches performed with Retraction Watch Database (RWD) revealed that the total number of retractions (as proxied by retraction-related notices) rose steadily from 2013 into the pandemic years 2020–2021. Interestingly, while retractions in the physical and social sciences tapered during 2020–2021, those of the basic life sciences and health sciences showed robust increases in 2020, with the former maintaining a steep rise in 2021. This rise in retractions belied a tapering of total relevant publications in the same year and is confirmed with a complementary search strategy in Scopus. The retraction rate in the medical sciences, particularly those relating to infectious disease, is clearly affected by the anomalous high retraction rate of COVID-19-related papers. However, the sustained increase in the retraction rate of the basic life sciences papers, could be due, at least partly, to retraction spikes in several journals. The rise in retractions in the life and medical sciences could be attributed to heightened post-publication peer review of papers in online platforms such as PubPeer, where numerous problematic papers have been revealed.
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27
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Cardenuto JP, Rocha A. Benchmarking Scientific Image Forgery Detectors. SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ETHICS 2022; 28:35. [PMID: 35943614 DOI: 10.1007/s11948-022-00391-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The field of scientific image integrity presents a challenging research bottleneck given the lack of available datasets to design and evaluate forensic techniques. The sensitivity of data also creates a legal hurdle that restricts the use of real-world cases to build any accessible forensic benchmark. In light of this, there is no comprehensive understanding on the limitations and capabilities of automatic image analysis tools for scientific images, which might create a false sense of data integrity. To mitigate this issue, we present an extendable open-source algorithm library that reproduces the most common image forgery operations reported by the research integrity community: duplication, retouching, and cleaning. We create a large scientific forgery image benchmark (39,423 images) with enriched ground truth using this library and realistic scientific images. All figures within the benchmark are synthetically doctored using images collected from creative commons sources. While collecting the source images, we ensured that the they did not present any suspicious integrity problems. Because of the high number of retracted papers due to image duplication, this work evaluates the state-of-the-art copy-move detection methods in the proposed dataset, using a new metric that asserts consistent match detection between the source and the copied region. All evaluated methods had a low performance in this dataset, indicating that scientific images might need a specialized copy-move detector. The dataset and source code are available at https://github.com/phillipecardenuto/rsiil .
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Affiliation(s)
- João P Cardenuto
- Artificial Intelligence Lab. (Recod.ai), Institute of Computing, University of Campinas, Av. Albert Einstein, 1251 - Cidade Universitária, Campinas, SP, 13083-852, Brazil.
| | - Anderson Rocha
- Artificial Intelligence Lab. (Recod.ai), Institute of Computing, University of Campinas, Av. Albert Einstein, 1251 - Cidade Universitária, Campinas, SP, 13083-852, Brazil
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28
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Gu J, Wang X, Li C, Zhao J, Fu W, Liang G, Qiu J. AI-enabled image fraud in scientific publications. PATTERNS 2022; 3:100511. [PMID: 35845832 PMCID: PMC9278510 DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2022.100511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Destroying image integrity in scientific papers may result in serious consequences. Inappropriate duplication and fabrication of images are two common misconducts in this aspect. The rapid development of artificial-intelligence technology has brought to us promising image-generation models that can produce realistic fake images. Here, we show that such advanced generative models threaten the publishing system in academia as they may be used to generate fake scientific images that cannot be effectively identified. We demonstrate the disturbing potential of these generative models in synthesizing fake images, plagiarizing existing images, and deliberately modifying images. It is very difficult to identify images generated by these models by visual inspection, image-forensic tools, and detection tools due to the unique paradigm of the generative models for processing images. This perspective reveals vast risks and arouses the vigilance of the scientific community on fake scientific images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) models. This perspective reports on the vast risk of potential image fraud based on artificial intelligence (AI) generative technologies in academic publications that have been neglected. This article discusses the scenarios, capabilities, and effects of AI algorithms used in academic fraud. The issue described in this perspective is not only relevant to computer scientists. As members of the scientific community, each of us will be deeply involved in the peer-review process. Each of us may be deceived by the AI image-fraud methods described in this article. Although the algorithm developing itself belongs to the field of computer science, its impact, as mentioned in this perspective, is more related to a wider range of scientific fields, such as biology, medicine, and natural science. Arousing their attention to this threat is a necessary condition to resist this threat. Combined with state-of-the-art AI research, this perspective also discusses possible preventive measures to respond to this potential threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinjin Gu
- School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Xinlei Wang
- School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Chenang Li
- School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
| | - Junhua Zhao
- School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
- Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Society (AIRS), Shenzhen, China
- Corresponding author
| | - Weijin Fu
- Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi, China
- Corresponding author
| | - Gaoqi Liang
- School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jing Qiu
- School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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29
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Yang S, Qi F, Diao H, Ajiferukea I. Do retraction practices work effectively? Evidence from citations of psychological retracted articles. J Inf Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/01655515221097623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Scientific retraction practices are intended to help purge the continued use of flawed research and assist in maintaining the integrity, credibility and quality of scientific literature. However, the practical effect of retraction is still vague and needs to be further explored. In this study, we analysed the citation counts and sentiments (positive/negative) of retracted articles in psychology journals from Web of Science to explore the effect of retraction. Causal inference strategies were used to measure the net effect of retractions on citation. Results show that the retraction practices induced the citation counts to reduce as expected. However, the proportion of negative citations also decreased because of retraction, indicating an unsatisfied effect. The retraction practice of high-impact factors and open access journals was more effective than other journals. The study integrated an understanding of the dissemination of erroneous publications and provided implications for liabilities involved in the whole retraction process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siluo Yang
- School of Information Management, Wuhan University, China; Research Center for Chinese Science Evaluation (RCCSE), China
| | - Fan Qi
- School of Information Management, Wuhan University, China
| | - Heyu Diao
- School of Information Management, Wuhan University, China
| | - Isola Ajiferukea
- Faculty of Information & Media Studies, Western University, Canada
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30
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Wang L, Zhou L, Yang W, Yu R. Deepfakes: A new threat to image fabrication in scientific publications? PATTERNS 2022; 3:100509. [PMID: 35607625 PMCID: PMC9122956 DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2022.100509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
There is an increasing risk of people using advanced artificial intelligence, particularly the generative adversarial network (GAN), for scientific image manipulation for the purpose of publications. We demonstrated this possibility by using GAN to fabricate several different types of biomedical images and discuss possible ways for the detection and prevention of such scientific misconducts in research communities.
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31
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Correction of the Scientific Production: Publisher Performance Evaluation Using a Dataset of 4844 PubMed Retractions. PUBLICATIONS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/publications10020018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background. Retraction of problematic scientific articles after publication is one of the mechanisms for correcting the literature available to publishers. The market volume and the business model justify publishers’ ethical involvement in the post-publication quality control (PPQC) of human-health-related articles. The limited information about this subject led us to analyze PubMed-retracted articles and the main retraction reasons grouped by publisher. We propose a score to appraise publisher’s PPQC results. The dataset used for this article consists of 4844 PubMed-retracted papers published between 1.01.2009 and 31.12.2020. Methods. An SDTP score was constructed from the dataset. The calculation formula includes several parameters: speed (article exposure time (ET)), detection rate (percentage of articles whose retraction is initiated by the editor/publisher/institution without the authors’ participation), transparency (percentage of retracted articles available online and the clarity of the retraction notes), and precision (mention of authors’ responsibility and percentage of retractions for reasons other than editorial errors). Results. The 4844 retracted articles were published in 1767 journals by 366 publishers, the average number of retracted articles/journal being 2.74. Forty-five publishers have more than 10 retracted articles, holding 88% of all papers and 79% of journals. Combining our data with data from another study shows that less than 7% of PubMed dataset journals retracted at least one article. Only 10.5% of the retraction notes included the individual responsibility of the authors. Nine of the top 11 publishers had the largest number of retracted articles in 2020. Retraction-reason analysis shows considerable differences between publishers concerning the articles’ ET: median values between 9 and 43 months (mistakes), 9 and 73 months (images), and 10 and 42 months (plagiarism and overlap). The SDTP score shows, from 2018 to 2020, an improvement in PPQC of four publishers in the top 11 and a decrease in the gap between 1st and 11th place. The group of the other 355 publishers also has a positive evolution of the SDTP score. Conclusions. Publishers have to get involved actively and measurably in the post-publication evaluation of scientific products. The introduction of reporting standards for retraction notes and replicable indicators for quantifying publishing QC can help increase the overall quality of scientific literature.
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32
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Brown RCH, de Barra M, Earp BD. Broad Medical Uncertainty and the ethical obligation for openness. SYNTHESE 2022; 200:121. [PMID: 35431349 PMCID: PMC8994926 DOI: 10.1007/s11229-022-03666-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
This paper argues that there exists a collective epistemic state of 'Broad Medical Uncertainty' (BMU) regarding the effectiveness of many medical interventions. We outline the features of BMU, and describe some of the main contributing factors. These include flaws in medical research methodologies, bias in publication practices, financial and other conflicts of interest, and features of how evidence is translated into practice. These result in a significant degree of uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of many medical treatments and unduly optimistic beliefs about the benefit/harm profiles of such treatments. We argue for an ethical presumption in favour of openness regarding BMU as part of a 'Corrective Response'. We then consider some objections to this position (the 'Anti-Corrective Response'), including concerns that public honesty about flaws in medical research could undermine trust in healthcare institutions. We suggest that, as it stands, the Anti-Corrective Response is unconvincing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mícheál de Barra
- Centre for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University London, London, UK
| | - Brian D. Earp
- Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Zhuang H, Huang TY, Acuna DE. Graphical integrity issues in open access publications: Detection and patterns of proportional ink violations. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009650. [PMID: 34898598 PMCID: PMC8700024 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Revised: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Academic graphs are essential for communicating complex scientific ideas and results. To ensure that these graphs truthfully reflect underlying data and relationships, visualization researchers have proposed several principles to guide the graph creation process. However, the extent of violations of these principles in academic publications is unknown. In this work, we develop a deep learning-based method to accurately measure violations of the proportional ink principle (AUC = 0.917), which states that the size of shaded areas in graphs should be consistent with their corresponding quantities. We apply our method to analyze a large sample of bar charts contained in 300K figures from open access publications. Our results estimate that 5% of bar charts contain proportional ink violations. Further analysis reveals that these graphical integrity issues are significantly more prevalent in some research fields, such as psychology and computer science, and some regions of the globe. Additionally, we find no temporal and seniority trends in violations. Finally, apart from openly releasing our large annotated dataset and method, we discuss how computational research integrity could be part of peer-review and the publication processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Zhuang
- School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, United States of America
| | - Tzu-Yang Huang
- School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, United States of America
| | - Daniel E. Acuna
- School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, United States of America
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35
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Bradshaw MS, Payne SH. Detecting fabrication in large-scale molecular omics data. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0260395. [PMID: 34847169 PMCID: PMC8631639 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Fraud is a pervasive problem and can occur as fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or theft. The scientific community is not exempt from this universal problem and several studies have recently been caught manipulating or fabricating data. Current measures to prevent and deter scientific misconduct come in the form of the peer-review process and on-site clinical trial auditors. As recent advances in high-throughput omics technologies have moved biology into the realm of big-data, fraud detection methods must be updated for sophisticated computational fraud. In the financial sector, machine learning and digit-frequencies are successfully used to detect fraud. Drawing from these sources, we develop methods of fabrication detection in biomedical research and show that machine learning can be used to detect fraud in large-scale omic experiments. Using the gene copy-number data as input, machine learning models correctly predicted fraud with 58-100% accuracy. With digit frequency as input features, the models detected fraud with 82%-100% accuracy. All of the data and analysis scripts used in this project are available at https://github.com/MSBradshaw/FakeData.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S. Bradshaw
- Computer Science Department, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Samuel H. Payne
- Biology Department, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, United States of America
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36
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Holcombe AO. Ad hominem rhetoric in scientific psychology. Br J Psychol 2021; 113:434-454. [PMID: 34820832 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2021] [Revised: 10/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Ad hominem discourse is largely prohibited in scientific journals. Historically, this prohibition restricted the dissemination of ad hominem discussion, but during the last decade, blogs and social media platforms became popular among researchers. With the use of social media now entrenched among researchers, there are important questions about the role of ad hominems. Ad hominems and other forms of strong criticism became particularly evident in online discussions associated with the recent replication crisis in psychology. Here, these discussions, and a few incidences of ad hominems in journal articles, are situated in the broader history of science. It is argued that explicit codes of conduct should be considered to curb certain kinds of ad hominem comments in certain fora, but that some ad hominem discussions have an important role to play in a healthier science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex O Holcombe
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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37
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Ortega JL. Classification and analysis of
PubPeer
comments: How a web journal club is used. J Assoc Inf Sci Technol 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/asi.24568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- José Luis Ortega
- Institute for Advanced Social Studies (IESA‐CSIC) Córdoba Spain
- Joint Research Unit Knowledge Transfer and Innovation (UCO‐CSIC) Córdoba Spain
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38
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van der Heyden MAG. The 1-h fraud detection challenge. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol 2021; 394:1633-1640. [PMID: 34244820 PMCID: PMC8270772 DOI: 10.1007/s00210-021-02120-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Publications baring falsified and fabricated images appear frequently in the primary literature. Industrialized forms of image forgery as practiced by the so-called paper mills worsen the current situation even further. Good education and awareness within the scientific society are essential to create an environment in which honesty and trust are the prime values in experimental research. Here I focus on the detection of publication fraud and provide some examples and advice. Finally, my views on the future of fraud detection and prevention are given.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcel A G van der Heyden
- Department of Medical Physiology, Division of Heart & Lungs, University Medical Center Utrecht, Yalelaan 50, 3584 CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands. .,Graduate School of Life Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
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39
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Oransky I, Fremes SE, Kurlansky P, Gaudino M. Retractions in medicine: the tip of the iceberg. Eur Heart J 2021; 42:4205-4206. [DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehab398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Oransky
- The Center for Scientific Integrity, New York University, Arthur L. Carter Institute, 20 Cooper Square, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003-6636, USA
| | - Stephen E Fremes
- Schulich Heart Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, USA
| | - Paul Kurlansky
- Division of Cardiac Surgery, Columbia University, 177 Fort Washington Ave, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Mario Gaudino
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, 525 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10065, USA
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40
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McKelvey M, Saemundsson RJ. Developing innovation governance readiness in regenerative medicine: lessons learned from the Macchiarini crisis. Regen Med 2021; 16:283-294. [PMID: 33834842 DOI: 10.2217/rme-2020-0173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The generation and clinical adoption of workable therapies in regenerative medicine has been slow, despite its alleged potential to relieve suffering and improve health outcomes. This has been explained by a fundamental difference between advanced cell and gene therapies and conventional drug- and device-based therapies, raising questions about how the readiness of existing healthcare systems to adopt such therapies can be evaluated and improved. In this paper, we use the lessons learned from the Macchiarini crisis at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden to take the first step in formulating the concept of innovation governance readiness. We propose it as a tool to help evaluate and improve the ability of private, public and civil society actors to work together to build and put into practice therapies based on emerging medical technologies such as regenerative medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maureen McKelvey
- Unit of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Department of Economy & Society, School of Business, Economics & Law, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Rögnvaldur J Saemundsson
- Unit of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Department of Economy & Society, School of Business, Economics & Law, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Innovation Management, Halmstad University, 301 18 Halmstad, Sweden.,Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland
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41
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Triggle CR, MacDonald R, Triggle DJ, Grierson D. Requiem for impact factors and high publication charges. Account Res 2021; 29:133-164. [PMID: 33787413 DOI: 10.1080/08989621.2021.1909481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Journal impact factors, publication charges and assessment of quality and accuracy of scientific research are critical for researchers, managers, funders, policy makers, and society. Editors and publishers compete for impact factor rankings, to demonstrate how important their journals are, and researchers strive to publish in perceived top journals, despite high publication and access charges. This raises questions of how top journals are identified, whether assessments of impacts are accurate and whether high publication charges borne by the research community are justified, bearing in mind that they also collectively provide free peer-review to the publishers. Although traditional journals accelerated peer review and publication during the COVID-19 pandemic, preprint servers made a greater impact with over 30,000 open access articles becoming available and accelerating a trend already seen in other fields of research. We review and comment on the advantages and disadvantages of a range of assessment methods and the way in which they are used by researchers, managers, employers and publishers. We argue that new approaches to assessment are required to provide a realistic and comprehensive measure of the value of research and journals and we support open access publishing at a modest, affordable price to benefit research producers and consumers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris R Triggle
- Departments of Medical Education & Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Doha, Qatar
| | - Ross MacDonald
- Distributed eLibrary, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Doha, New York, Qatar
| | - David J Triggle
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, USA
| | - Donald Grierson
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Loughborough, UK
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42
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Elango B. Retracted articles in the biomedical literature from Indian authors. Scientometrics 2021; 126:3965-3981. [PMID: 33716353 PMCID: PMC7937359 DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-03895-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2020] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The aim of the present study is to identify retracted articles in the biomedical literature (co) authored by Indian authors and to examine the features of retracted articles. The PubMed database was searched to find the retracted articles in order to reach the goal. The search yielded 508 records and retrieved for the detailed analysis of: authorships and collaboration type, funding information, who retracts? journals and impact factors, and reasons for retraction. The results show that most of the biomedical articles retracted were published after 2010 and common reasons are plagiarism and fake data for retraction. More than half of the retracted articles were co-authored within the institutions and there is no repeat offender. 25% of retracted articles were published in the top 15 journals and 33% were published in the non-impact factor journals. Average time from publication to retraction is calculated to 2.86 years and retractions due to fake data takes longest period among the reasons. Majority of the funded research was retracted due to fake data whereas it is plagiarism for non-funded.
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43
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Jambor H, Antonietti A, Alicea B, Audisio TL, Auer S, Bhardwaj V, Burgess SJ, Ferling I, Gazda MA, Hoeppner LH, Ilangovan V, Lo H, Olson M, Mohamed SY, Sarabipour S, Varma A, Walavalkar K, Wissink EM, Weissgerber TL. Creating clear and informative image-based figures for scientific publications. PLoS Biol 2021; 19:e3001161. [PMID: 33788834 PMCID: PMC8041175 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Revised: 04/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Scientists routinely use images to display data. Readers often examine figures first; therefore, it is important that figures are accessible to a broad audience. Many resources discuss fraudulent image manipulation and technical specifications for image acquisition; however, data on the legibility and interpretability of images are scarce. We systematically examined these factors in non-blot images published in the top 15 journals in 3 fields; plant sciences, cell biology, and physiology (n = 580 papers). Common problems included missing scale bars, misplaced or poorly marked insets, images or labels that were not accessible to colorblind readers, and insufficient explanations of colors, labels, annotations, or the species and tissue or object depicted in the image. Papers that met all good practice criteria examined for all image-based figures were uncommon (physiology 16%, cell biology 12%, plant sciences 2%). We present detailed descriptions and visual examples to help scientists avoid common pitfalls when publishing images. Our recommendations address image magnification, scale information, insets, annotation, and color and may encourage discussion about quality standards for bioimage publishing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Jambor
- Mildred Scheel Early Career Center, Medical Faculty, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Alberto Antonietti
- Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Bradly Alicea
- Orthogonal Research and Education Laboratory, Champaign, IL, United States of America
| | - Tracy L. Audisio
- Evolutionary Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Susann Auer
- Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Vivek Bhardwaj
- Max Plank Institute of Immunology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Germany
- Hubrecht Institute, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Steven J. Burgess
- Carl R Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States of America
| | - Iuliia Ferling
- Junior Research Group Evolution of Microbial Interactions, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology—Hans Knöll Institute (HKI), Jena, Germany
| | - Małgorzata Anna Gazda
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Luke H. Hoeppner
- The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, Austin, MN, United States of America
- The Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America
| | | | - Hung Lo
- Neuroscience Research Center, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt—Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Mischa Olson
- Section of Plant Biology, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States of America
| | - Salem Yousef Mohamed
- Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zagazig, Zagazig, Egypt
| | - Sarvenaz Sarabipour
- Institute for Computational Medicine and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Aalok Varma
- National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - Kaivalya Walavalkar
- National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bangalore, Karnataka, India
| | - Erin M. Wissink
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States of America
| | - Tracey L. Weissgerber
- Berlin Institute of Health at Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, QUEST Center, Berlin, Germany
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44
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The thin ret(raction) line: biomedical journal responses to incorrect non-targeting nucleotide sequence reagents in human gene knockdown publications. Scientometrics 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-03871-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe capacity of the scientific literature to self-correct is of vital importance, but few studies have compared post-publication journal responses to specific error types. We have compared journal responses to a specific reagent error in 31 human gene knockdown publications, namely a non-targeting or negative control nucleotide sequence that is instead predicted to target a human gene. The 31 papers published by 13 biomedical journals generated 26 published responses (14 retractions, 5 expressions of concern, 7 author corrections which included one resolved expression of concern) as well as 6 stated decisions to take no action. Variations in published responses were noted both between journals and by 4 journals that published different responses to at least 2 papers. A subset of published responses revealed conflicting explanations for the wrongly identified control reagent, despite 30/31 papers obtaining their gene knockdown reagents from the same external supplier. Viewed collectively, different journal responses to human gene knockdown publications with a common reagent error type suggest that editorial staff require more support to interpret post-publication notifications of incorrect nucleotide sequence reagents. We propose a draft template to facilitate the communication, interpretation and investigation of published errors, including errors affecting research reagents.
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Wjst M. Scientific Integrity Is Threatened by Image Duplications. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 2021; 64:271-272. [PMID: 33275867 DOI: 10.1165/rcmb.2020-0419le] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Wjst
- Helmholtz Zentrum München, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt, München-Neuherberg, Germany, and.,Technische Universität München, München, Germany
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Miura K, Nørrelykke SF. Reproducible image handling and analysis. EMBO J 2021; 40:e105889. [PMID: 33480052 PMCID: PMC7849301 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2020105889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Revised: 12/02/2020] [Accepted: 12/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Image data are universal in life sciences research. Their proper handling is not. A significant proportion of image data in research papers show signs of mishandling that undermine their interpretation. We propose that a precise description of the image processing and analysis applied is required to address this problem. A new norm for reporting reproducible image analyses will diminish mishandling, as it will alert co-authors, referees, and journals to aberrant image data processing or, if published nonetheless, it will document it to the reader. To promote this norm, we discuss the effectiveness of this approach and give some step-by-step instructions for publishing reproducible image data processing and analysis workflows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kota Miura
- The Network of European Bioimage Analysts (NEUBIAS)
- Nikon Imaging CenterUniversity of HeidelbergHeidelbergGermany
| | - Simon F Nørrelykke
- The Network of European Bioimage Analysts (NEUBIAS)
- ScopeMETH ZurichZurichSwitzerland
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Thomas GH. Microbial Musings - November 2020. MICROBIOLOGY (READING, ENGLAND) 2020; 166:1004-1006. [PMID: 33252324 PMCID: PMC7723258 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.001005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gavin H Thomas
- Department of Biology, University of York, PO Box 373, York, UK
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Schmied C, Jambor HK. Effective image visualization for publications - a workflow using open access tools and concepts. F1000Res 2020; 9:1373. [PMID: 33708381 PMCID: PMC7931257 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.27140.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 09/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Today, 25% of figures in biomedical publications contain images of various types, e.g. photos, light or electron microscopy images, x-rays, or even sketches or drawings. Despite being widely used, published images may be ineffective or illegible since details are not visible, information is missing or they have been inappropriately processed. The vast majority of such imperfect images can be attributed to the lack of experience of the authors as undergraduate and graduate curricula lack courses on image acquisition, ethical processing, and visualization. Here we present a step-by-step image processing workflow for effective and ethical image presentation. The workflow is aimed to allow novice users with little or no prior experience in image processing to implement the essential steps towards publishing images. The workflow is based on the open source software Fiji, but its principles can be applied with other software packages. All image processing steps discussed here, and complementary suggestions for image presentation, are shown in an accessible "cheat sheet"-style format, enabling wide distribution, use, and adoption to more specific needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Schmied
- Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FMP), Berlin, Germany
| | - Helena Klara Jambor
- Mildred-Scheel Early Career Center, Medical Faculty, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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Schmied C, Jambor HK. Effective image visualization for publications - a workflow using open access tools and concepts. F1000Res 2020; 9:1373. [PMID: 33708381 PMCID: PMC7931257 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.27140.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Today, 25% of figures in biomedical publications contain images of various types, e.g. photos, light or electron microscopy images, x-rays, or even sketches or drawings. Despite being widely used, published images may be ineffective or illegible since details are not visible, information is missing or they have been inappropriately processed. The vast majority of such imperfect images can be attributed to the lack of experience of the authors as undergraduate and graduate curricula lack courses on image acquisition, ethical processing, and visualization. Here we present a step-by-step image processing workflow for effective and ethical image presentation. The workflow is aimed to allow novice users with little or no prior experience in image processing to implement the essential steps towards publishing images. The workflow is based on the open source software Fiji, but its principles can be applied with other software packages. All image processing steps discussed here, and complementary suggestions for image presentation, are shown in an accessible "cheat sheet"-style format, enabling wide distribution, use, and adoption to more specific needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Schmied
- Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FMP), Berlin, Germany
| | - Helena Klara Jambor
- Mildred-Scheel Early Career Center, Medical Faculty, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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Shamsoddin E, Janani L, Ghamari K, Kabiri P, Shamsi Gooshki E, Mesgarpour B. Psychometric properties of Persian version of the research misconduct questionnaire (PRMQ). J Med Ethics Hist Med 2020; 13:18. [PMID: 33552451 PMCID: PMC7838887 DOI: 10.18502/jmehm.v13i18.4826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Assessment of scientific misconduct is considered to be an increasingly important topic in medical sciences. Providing a definition for scientific research misconduct and proposing practical methods for evaluating and measuring it in various fields of medicine discipline are required. This study aimed at assessing the psychometric properties of Scientific Research Misconduct-Revised (SMQ-R) and Publication Pressure Questionnaires (PPQ). After translation and merging of these two questionnaires, the validity of the translated draft was evaluated by 11-member expert panel using Content Validity Index (CVI) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR). Reliability of the final questionnaire, completed by 100 participants randomly chosen from medical academic members, was assessed by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The final version was named Persian Research Misconduct Questionnaire (PRMQ) and consisted of 63 question items. The item-level content validity indices of 61 questions were above 0.79, and reliability assessment showed that 6 out of 7 subscales had alpha values higher than 0.6. Hence, PRMQ can be considered an acceptable, valid and reliable tool to measure research misconduct in biomedical sciences researches in Iran.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erfan Shamsoddin
- Research Assistant, National Institute for Medical Research Development (NIMAD), Tehran, Iran
| | - Leila Janani
- Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Kiandokht Ghamari
- Research Assistant, National Institute for Medical Research Development (NIMAD), Tehran, Iran
| | - Payam Kabiri
- Senior Research Fellow, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki
- Assistant Professor, Medical Ethics and History of Medicine Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Medical Ethics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Bita Mesgarpour
- Assistant Professor, National Institute for Medical Research Development (NIMAD), Tehran, Iran
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