A science paper about the importance of scientific rigor has been retracted after it was criticized for a lack of scientific rigor.
"We are embarrassed by our elementary errors," the paper's authors state in a response to the retraction.
The paper, which appeared last year in the journal Nature Human Behavior, highlighted the benefits of preregistration—publicly outlining study goals and methods in advance—along with large sample sizes and methodological transparency to ensure accuracy of the results.
"Editors no longer have confidence in the reliability of the findings and conclusions reported in this article," reads the retraction.
From Science:
The journal has invited the authors to submit a new manuscript for peer review, and they say they will. "We will revise the paper to address the inaccuracies and consider other critiques about the substance of our claims during revision," the authors write.In a lengthy account of the case in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Bak-Coleman pointed out the irony of the situation: "Here, in the best-case scenario—in a paper about the importance of embracing these reforms, by the experts who developed these reforms—the reforms themselves haven't been well-embraced."
Previously:
• Scientists determine which paper makes the worst paper cuts
• Scientists win award for discovering mammals can breath through our anuses
