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The Stewart Retractions: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis

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  • Justin T. Pickett

Abstract

Sociology has recently experienced its first large-scale retraction event. Dr. Eric Stewart and his coauthors have retracted five articles from three journals, Social Problems, Criminology, and Law & Society Review. I coauthored one of the retracted articles. The retraction notices are uninformative, stating only that the authors uncovered an unacceptable number of errors in each article. Misinformation about the event abounds. Some of the authors have continued to insist in print that the retracted findings are correct. I analyze both quantitative and qualitative data about what happened, in the articles, among the coauthors, and at the journals. The findings suggest that the five articles were likely fraudulent, several coauthors acted with negligence bordering on complicity after learning about the data irregularities, and the editors violated the ethical standards advanced by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Suggested reforms include requiring data verification by coauthors and editorial adherence to COPE standards.

Suggested Citation

  • Justin T. Pickett, 2020. "The Stewart Retractions: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 17(1), pages 152–190-1, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ejw:journl:v:17:y:2020:i:1:p:152-190
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sampson, R.J. & Morenoff, J.D. & Raudenbush, S., 2005. "Social anatomy of racial and ethnic disparities in violence," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(2), pages 224-232.
    2. Diekmann Andreas & Jann Ben, 2010. "Benford’s Law and Fraud Detection: Facts and Legends," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 11(3), pages 397-401, August.
    3. David Kirk, 2008. "The neighborhood context of racial and ethnic disparities in arrest," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(1), pages 55-77, February.
    4. Daniele Fanelli, 2009. "How Many Scientists Fabricate and Falsify Research? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Survey Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(5), pages 1-11, May.
    5. Andreas Diekmann & Ben Jann, 2010. "Benford's Law and Fraud Detection: Facts and Legends," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 11(3), pages 397-401, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Walter R. Schumm & Duane W. Crawford & Lorenza Lockett & Asma bin Ateeq & Abdullah AlRashed, 2023. "Can Retracted Social Science Articles Be Distinguished from Non-Retracted Articles by Some of the Same Authors, Using Benford’s Law or Other Statistical Methods?," Publications, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, March.
    2. Nate Breznau, 2021. "Does Sociology Need Open Science?," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-25, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    open science; reproducibility; peer review; research misconduct; scientific fraud;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B40 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - General
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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    1. The Stewart Retractions: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis (EJW 2020) in ReplicationWiki

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