Ivan Oransky, MD, is co-founder of Retraction Watch, editor in chief of The Transmitter, and distinguished journalist in residence at New York University’s Arthur Carter Journalism Institute. Ivan previously was president of the Association of Health Care Journalists and vice president of editorial at Medscape. He has also held editorial leadership positions at MedPage Today, Reuters Health, Scientific American and The Scientist. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the 2015 John P. McGovern Medal for excellence in biomedical communication from the American Medical Writers Association, and in 2020 the Council of Science Editors gave Retraction Watch the Award for Meritorious Achievement, their highest honor.

ABSTRACT:

Members of the sleuthing community and others have done an admirable job of demonstrating just how much remains if we are to clean up the scholarly literature, and how slowly publishers and institutions have acted. In large swaths of science, awareness is high, but alacrity is often lacking. What can be done to speed up this process, and attack the problem at its roots? What institutions, government agencies, and other players create opportunities for leverage and influence? In this talk, I will synthesize what I have heard during the conference and suggest potential steps forward based on what we have observed during 15 years of reporting on scientific integrity and misconduct at Retraction Watch.