https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-sad-story-of-super-scientist-who.html
Building on previous posts addressing scientific integrity (such as the one linked above), it is timely to spotlight a project (called ERROR) led by the University of Bern that offers financial rewards to individuals who successfully identify errors in scientific publications.
Reviewers can earn up to one thousand euros per article, with additional bonuses depending on the severity of the errors uncovered—significant errors result in higher bonuses. In cases involving fraudulent errors that lead to an article's retraction, the total compensation can reach nearly 3000 euros.
It is both surprising and ironic that this project focuses on psychology papers, even though a Scopus search reveals that Medicine tops the list of fields with the most retracted papers, followed by Biochemistry, Genetics, and Molecular Biology—together accounting for over 50% of all retractions. In stark contrast, psychology ranks 23rd, accounting for only 1.4% of retracted papers
It is worth noting that the issue of scientific integrity and the necessity for rigorous curation have become increasingly urgent, given the rising threat of misinformation and manipulation enabled by Artificial Intelligence, as highlighted in an article by The Economist. https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-economistai-generated-content-is.html
PS - In this context, the foresight of Professor Terry Young, which I had previously discussed, is now much clearer. https://pacheco-torgal.blogspot.com/2021/10/universities-should-stop-producing.html
