UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Open Scholarship Initiative, with support from Penn State University Libraries, will host “Retractions: On the Rise, But Not Enough,” a talk by Ivan Oransky, co-founder of the Retraction Watch blog, on April 21. The presentation will take place at 3 p.m. in Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library.
“In 2000, there were about 40 retractions from the scholarly literature. In 2023, there were more than 10,000,” Oransky said. “That is a dramatic increase, even accounting for the growing number of papers published per year. I will explore the reasons for the increase, why it is good news and why the real number should be even higher. I will tell the stories of the sleuths who are finding problems in the literature, drawing on nearly 15 years of experience at Retraction Watch.”
Oransky is also editor-in-chief of The Transmitter, a publication offering news and analysis of the neuroscience field to build bridges and advance research, and distinguished journalist in residence at New York University's Arthur Carter Journalism Institute. Previously, he was president of the Association of Health Care Journalists and vice president of editorial at Medscape. Oransky has held editorial leadership positions at MedPage Today, Reuters Health, Scientific American and The Scientist. He received the 2015 John P. McGovern Medal for excellence in biomedical communication from the American Medical Writers Association, and in 2017 was awarded an honorary doctorate in civil laws from The University of the South (Sewanee). In 2019, the judges for the John Maddox Prize, which promotes those who stand up for science in the face of hostility, gave him a commendation for his work at Retraction Watch.
Following Oransky’s talk, refreshments, sponsored by the Penn State Child Study Center will be served in the University Libraries Dean’s Conference Room in 510 Paterno Library.
For additional information, contact Briana Ezray at bde125@psu.edu.