Cathleen O'Grady

Scientific fraud has become an ‘industry,’ alarming analysis finds Sophisticated global networks are infiltrating journals to publish fake papers

Scientific fraud has become an ‘industry,’ alarming analysis finds | Science | AAAS via @cathleenogrady.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

Scientific fraud has become an ‘industry,’ alarming analysis finds Sophisticated global networks are infiltrating journals to publish fake papers

Don't look now but: Scientific fraud has become an ‘industry,’ alarming analysis finds. Brought to you by @science.org 's excellent @cathleenogrady.bsky.social | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Blood taken from Danish babies ended up in huge genetic study—without consent The iPsych project, which investigates the genetics of psychiatric disorders, has sent 140,000 opt-out notices amid backlash

Thousands of Danes have just found out that their genetic data has been used in research for more than a decade, without their consent. Great reporting from @inampudi.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

Are you a journalist writing about a current heatwave?

The images you choose are critical to the story.

The @climateoutreach.bsky.social team have shown some ideas here which help stress the risks rather than the typical ice creams: www.climatevisuals.org/how-do-you-p...

‘A big win’: Dubious statistical results are becoming less common in psychology Fewer papers are reporting findings on the border of statistical significance, a potential marker of dodgy research practices

In the early 2010s, critics started pointing out that much of the psychology literature was unreliable. Now, a statistical analysis suggests the field is improving, @cathleenogrady.bsky.social reports. www.science.org/content/arti...

Good summary (imo) by @cathleenogrady.bsky.social, and useful quotes from thoughtful people like @peteetchells.bsky.social and @dingdingpeng.the100.ci and others.

Social media consensus paper causes social media uproar Preprint reporting common ground among researchers on smartphones and teen mental health is premature and flawed, critics say

Last week, a preprint reporting expert consensus on smartphones and teen mental health sparked a kerfuffle.

Critics are saying the evidence in the field is too thin to support consensus, and that the findings of the paper have been communicated badly: www.science.org/content/arti...

Thom, this is brutal reading. To say that the system is short-sighted and unfair is a massive understatement. I remember during my MSc someone telling me that you were a rockstar but struggling to find your next position—appalling that this never changed!

It's fantastic! @reeserichardson.bsky.social hit the nail on the head

Low-quality papers are surging by exploiting public data sets and AI Paper mills are also likely contributing to “false discoveries”

A massive health dataset has spawned a wealth of cookie-cutter "research Mad Libs" papers that don't tell us anything useful, but flood the literature with noise. Possibly AI-generated, possibly paper mill origin.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Trump’s ‘fear factor’: Scientists go silent as funding cuts escalate Many worry about retribution. But for others, speaking out is worth the risk

“The lived experience of a scientist right now is terrifying”

My colleague Warren Cornwall spoke to @gregggonsalves.bsky.social, @rebekahtromble.bsky.social, @katestarbird.bsky.social
and others about “the fear and self-censorship coursing through the nation’s scientific establishment today”.
🧪

Geoengineering could fight climate change—if the public can be convinced Researchers’ failures to communicate are jeopardizing even basic tests, but new projects may point the way forward

Smart and important story from @rebekahwhite.bsky.social. Some geoengineering experiments have brought nearby communities on board; others have failed to get support. What should scientists do to genuinely engage with people about their concerns?

www.science.org/content/arti...

‘A beautiful way of saying a lot’: sign language brings benefits to the organic chemistry classroom Christina Goudreau Collison works with Deaf students to develop clear signs for organic chemistry terms — which could also help students with non-conventional learning needs.

This is awesome: "As we incorporated [ASL vocab] into the course, we found that students who relied solely on an interpreter started to outperform hearing students ... Deaf students also began to seek out research opportunities more often than they did previously."

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Overseas universities see opportunity in U.S. ‘brain drain’ But many U.S.-based scientists seeking to leave may struggle to find positions in countries grappling with funding issues of their own

Could Trump trigger a brain drain from the United States? Many institutes overseas say they would welcome researchers who want to leave the country. www.science.org/content/arti... (by @cofford.bsky.social)

I couldn't do what I do w/out the generosity of scientists, many of whom have taken calls while on vacation, while ill, or while dealing with personal tragedies. They communicate complex ideas, oftentimes in a second language. They have made me laugh, cry, and buckle beneath the wonder of it all. 🧪

Implants can help deaf kids hear—but many still struggle with spoken language Some researchers worry about risks of devaluing sign language, overreliance on imperfect devices

Language is the social&cognitive air that humans breathe. It underlies our thinking, connection, education.

So what happens when, as a young child, you don't get access to it?

Implants can help deaf kids hear – but that's not always enough to give them language 🧪
www.science.org/content/arti...

Implants can help deaf kids hear—but many still struggle with spoken language Some researchers worry about risks of devaluing sign language, overreliance on imperfect devices

This is the article of my dreams. Finally, finally delving into the ways in which cochlear implants can fail deaf kids, and the importance of early sign language - all upside, no downside. Amazing work, @cathleenogrady.bsky.social !

Thank you! That means a lot. The thrust of this piece will obviously not be new to deaf people & allies, but I hope it'll be helpful in communicating the ideas more broadly!

Immensely grateful to all the researchers and families who gave up their time to share their stories with me for this piece. And stories like these always have a huge, invisible team behind the scenes – check out the amazing graphics, illustration and visualization of sound through an implant!

Many researchers and advocates say the answer is bilingualism. Sure, give deaf kids access to spoken language – but also make sure that they have a foundation for language acquisition in a language that's fully accessible to them: a sign language like ASL.

Kids who can't hear well, even though they have assistive technology, can be deprived of language access during the critical years when their brains should be soaking in language. That can have lifelong cognitive, social, educational and health consequences.

The sound from cochlear implants can be like a bad phone line. For some deaf children, that sound is not enough for them to acquire spoken language.

But around half of the professionals advising parents of deaf kids steer them away from sign language.

Implants can help deaf kids hear—but many still struggle with spoken language Some researchers worry about risks of devaluing sign language, overreliance on imperfect devices

Language is the social&cognitive air that humans breathe. It underlies our thinking, connection, education.

So what happens when, as a young child, you don't get access to it?

Implants can help deaf kids hear – but that's not always enough to give them language 🧪
www.science.org/content/arti...

Pentagon guts national security program that harnessed social science Dozens of U.S. academics lose grants from Minerva program for studies related to terrorism, drug trafficking, and other threats

Scoop from @kakape.bsky.social: The U.S. Department of Defense has terminated dozens of grants for social scientists studying terrorism, drug trafficking, misinformation, and other threats. www.science.org/content/arti...

Great thread from @jbakcoleman.bsky.social on my story about ecologists reaching different conclusions from the same data. Should we be worried? Maybe about analytical ability – but maybe not so much about science's ability to reach a clear answer. 🧪

Even faced with the same data, ecologists sometimes come to opposite conclusions Study highlights powerful role subjective choices can play in research, though some critics urge caution about applying findings too broadly

Give a group of scientists the same data and the same research question, and they should come up with similar answers—in theory. But they don’t.
www.science.org/content/arti... (by @cathleenogrady.bsky.social)

U.S. early-career researchers struggling amid chaos Uncertain funding, government firings, and distressed universities hit vulnerable groups especially hard

"These kinds of shocks are going to lead to a mass exodus … for minorities in particular.”

For my latest @science.org story, I spoke with early career researchers who have been affected by the federal upheaval and are concerned about what it means for their future.

www.science.org/content/arti...

‘Patent mills’ sell scientists inventorship of bizarre medical devices Thousands of U.K. “design registrations” sold to Indian academics in past 2 years, new research finds

Hilarious, if it weren't so troubling: Paper mills sell intellectual property rights for weird inventions to scientists - including shoes with "a camera and USB ports around the sole." www.science.org/content/arti... by @cathleenogrady.bsky.social

This "wearable textile antenna for telemedicine application" is probably my favourite, but competition is fierce

🧪

bsky.app/profile/matt...

One of the wackier stories I've reported in a while. Shady outfits are selling slots on UK "patents" to academics – only they aren't patents, they're just cribbed pictures of crazy, meaningless designs: