What to do if authors don't respond to my serious concerns about their paper?Discovered a serious error in a...

Compress command output by piping to bzip2

A minimum of two personnel "are" or "is"?

What does Cypher mean when he says Neo is "gonna pop"?

Eww, those bytes are gross

How to deal with an incendiary email that was recalled

Placing an adverb between a verb and an object?

How would one buy a used TIE Fighter or X-Wing?

Using only 1s, make 29 with the minimum number of digits

Is there any differences between "Gucken" and "Schauen"?

Why do members of Congress in committee hearings ask witnesses the same question multiple times?

Why is "points exist" not an axiom in geometry?

Jumping Numbers

Why did other German political parties disband so fast when Hitler was appointed chancellor?

Citing paywalled articles accessed via illegal web sharing

Solving Fredholm Equation of the second kind

Quenching swords in dragon blood; why?

Would a National Army of mercenaries be a feasible idea?

What to do when being responsible for data protection in your lab, yet advice is ignored?

How to tag distinct options/entities without giving any an implicit priority or suggested order?

Is it a fallacy if someone claims they need an explanation for every word of your argument to the point where they don't understand common terms?

What is better: yes / no radio, or simple checkbox?

How do you funnel food off a cutting board?

Every character has a name - does this lead to too many named characters?

If I sold a PS4 game I owned the disc for, can I reinstall it digitally?



What to do if authors don't respond to my serious concerns about their paper?


Discovered a serious error in a reviewed paper after submitting the review, what to do?Should I warn my professor about some errors that I've found in his paper?Found errors in paper: What happens now?What to do about accidental, easily corrected errors in a conference paper you already submitted?What to do about an important typo mistake in my submitted conference paper?Will I destroy my career if I published a paper with a serious mistake?Fixed an error in my published paper, and cite the paper in my not-yet-defended thesis. What should I do?What should I do if a paper makes false claims about my work?Serious error in published journal paper by a faculty memberWhat to do if a paper by respected authors has obvious problems, and I have told them so already?













3















I recently read a paper that conducted an experiment, analyzed it, and reached a conclusion. However, the way they conducted the analysis is seriously flawed and cannot be used to support the conclusion.



As far as I can tell, the experiment is valid and only the analysis is problematic. Thus the paper can be rewritten, although the conclusion may completely change.



The paper is published in a highly-reputable and prestigious scientific journal. The authors are all senior researchers at reputable institutions.
It's a bit of a surprise that this flaw got past the authors and peer review. I suspect that, because the conclusion confirms what many people already believe, the analysis was not scrutinized too closely. I only became suspicious of it because the measured effect was too strong. The analysis is also reasonably complex and the flaw is somewhat subtle.



I contacted all three authors by email and explained the problem with their analysis. I did by best to phrase the email appropriately.



A month later, I have received no response to my email. What would be a reasonable course for further action? Options include:




  1. Send the authors a follow-up email. (If so, what should I say to get the message across?)

  2. Contact the journal with my concerns.

  3. Write a response. (Would such a thing get published?)

  4. Do nothing. (I think the paper is too important.)










share|improve this question



























    3















    I recently read a paper that conducted an experiment, analyzed it, and reached a conclusion. However, the way they conducted the analysis is seriously flawed and cannot be used to support the conclusion.



    As far as I can tell, the experiment is valid and only the analysis is problematic. Thus the paper can be rewritten, although the conclusion may completely change.



    The paper is published in a highly-reputable and prestigious scientific journal. The authors are all senior researchers at reputable institutions.
    It's a bit of a surprise that this flaw got past the authors and peer review. I suspect that, because the conclusion confirms what many people already believe, the analysis was not scrutinized too closely. I only became suspicious of it because the measured effect was too strong. The analysis is also reasonably complex and the flaw is somewhat subtle.



    I contacted all three authors by email and explained the problem with their analysis. I did by best to phrase the email appropriately.



    A month later, I have received no response to my email. What would be a reasonable course for further action? Options include:




    1. Send the authors a follow-up email. (If so, what should I say to get the message across?)

    2. Contact the journal with my concerns.

    3. Write a response. (Would such a thing get published?)

    4. Do nothing. (I think the paper is too important.)










    share|improve this question

























      3












      3








      3








      I recently read a paper that conducted an experiment, analyzed it, and reached a conclusion. However, the way they conducted the analysis is seriously flawed and cannot be used to support the conclusion.



      As far as I can tell, the experiment is valid and only the analysis is problematic. Thus the paper can be rewritten, although the conclusion may completely change.



      The paper is published in a highly-reputable and prestigious scientific journal. The authors are all senior researchers at reputable institutions.
      It's a bit of a surprise that this flaw got past the authors and peer review. I suspect that, because the conclusion confirms what many people already believe, the analysis was not scrutinized too closely. I only became suspicious of it because the measured effect was too strong. The analysis is also reasonably complex and the flaw is somewhat subtle.



      I contacted all three authors by email and explained the problem with their analysis. I did by best to phrase the email appropriately.



      A month later, I have received no response to my email. What would be a reasonable course for further action? Options include:




      1. Send the authors a follow-up email. (If so, what should I say to get the message across?)

      2. Contact the journal with my concerns.

      3. Write a response. (Would such a thing get published?)

      4. Do nothing. (I think the paper is too important.)










      share|improve this question














      I recently read a paper that conducted an experiment, analyzed it, and reached a conclusion. However, the way they conducted the analysis is seriously flawed and cannot be used to support the conclusion.



      As far as I can tell, the experiment is valid and only the analysis is problematic. Thus the paper can be rewritten, although the conclusion may completely change.



      The paper is published in a highly-reputable and prestigious scientific journal. The authors are all senior researchers at reputable institutions.
      It's a bit of a surprise that this flaw got past the authors and peer review. I suspect that, because the conclusion confirms what many people already believe, the analysis was not scrutinized too closely. I only became suspicious of it because the measured effect was too strong. The analysis is also reasonably complex and the flaw is somewhat subtle.



      I contacted all three authors by email and explained the problem with their analysis. I did by best to phrase the email appropriately.



      A month later, I have received no response to my email. What would be a reasonable course for further action? Options include:




      1. Send the authors a follow-up email. (If so, what should I say to get the message across?)

      2. Contact the journal with my concerns.

      3. Write a response. (Would such a thing get published?)

      4. Do nothing. (I think the paper is too important.)







      errors-erratum






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 2 hours ago









      ThomasThomas

      14k63051




      14k63051






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          5
















          1. Write a response. (Would such a thing get published?)




          This. Such things are usually titled "Comment to..." and, yes, they are published, typically alongside with a reply from the authors of the commented paper (the comment is usually sent to them by the journal editor).



          As usual disclaimer, since things may vary across fields and journals, check if the journal in question has already published comments of this type and, in doubt, contact the editor.






          share|improve this answer































            0














            There are about a gazillion papers with problems with them. And authors who don't want to fix them, don't think they're wrong, whatever.




            1. Just resign yourself to the imperfection of the published literature. Really, killing yourself with worry that there is a science paper with a mistake in it is like the XKCD cartoon about "someone is wrong on the Internet". https://xkcd.com/386/


            2. Failing that, write a paper of your own to correct/dispute the issue. Either a direct comment/critique (harder avenue). Or a paper with some new contribution but that allows revisiting the work of the other group and dissing it en passant (easier avenue).







            share|improve this answer








            New contributor




            guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.





















            • I don’t lose sleep about bogus papers at third-tier publication venues, because no one will ever read them. But this is different.

              – Thomas
              55 mins ago











            • Science/Nature have a worse record than ACS journals in my experience. They chase a lot of hype science.

              – guest
              52 mins ago











            Your Answer








            StackExchange.ready(function() {
            var channelOptions = {
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "415"
            };
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
            createEditor();
            });
            }
            else {
            createEditor();
            }
            });

            function createEditor() {
            StackExchange.prepareEditor({
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: true,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: 10,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader: {
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            },
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            });


            }
            });














            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2facademia.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f125806%2fwhat-to-do-if-authors-dont-respond-to-my-serious-concerns-about-their-paper%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            5
















            1. Write a response. (Would such a thing get published?)




            This. Such things are usually titled "Comment to..." and, yes, they are published, typically alongside with a reply from the authors of the commented paper (the comment is usually sent to them by the journal editor).



            As usual disclaimer, since things may vary across fields and journals, check if the journal in question has already published comments of this type and, in doubt, contact the editor.






            share|improve this answer




























              5
















              1. Write a response. (Would such a thing get published?)




              This. Such things are usually titled "Comment to..." and, yes, they are published, typically alongside with a reply from the authors of the commented paper (the comment is usually sent to them by the journal editor).



              As usual disclaimer, since things may vary across fields and journals, check if the journal in question has already published comments of this type and, in doubt, contact the editor.






              share|improve this answer


























                5












                5








                5









                1. Write a response. (Would such a thing get published?)




                This. Such things are usually titled "Comment to..." and, yes, they are published, typically alongside with a reply from the authors of the commented paper (the comment is usually sent to them by the journal editor).



                As usual disclaimer, since things may vary across fields and journals, check if the journal in question has already published comments of this type and, in doubt, contact the editor.






                share|improve this answer















                1. Write a response. (Would such a thing get published?)




                This. Such things are usually titled "Comment to..." and, yes, they are published, typically alongside with a reply from the authors of the commented paper (the comment is usually sent to them by the journal editor).



                As usual disclaimer, since things may vary across fields and journals, check if the journal in question has already published comments of this type and, in doubt, contact the editor.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered 1 hour ago









                Massimo OrtolanoMassimo Ortolano

                39.2k12118147




                39.2k12118147























                    0














                    There are about a gazillion papers with problems with them. And authors who don't want to fix them, don't think they're wrong, whatever.




                    1. Just resign yourself to the imperfection of the published literature. Really, killing yourself with worry that there is a science paper with a mistake in it is like the XKCD cartoon about "someone is wrong on the Internet". https://xkcd.com/386/


                    2. Failing that, write a paper of your own to correct/dispute the issue. Either a direct comment/critique (harder avenue). Or a paper with some new contribution but that allows revisiting the work of the other group and dissing it en passant (easier avenue).







                    share|improve this answer








                    New contributor




                    guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.





















                    • I don’t lose sleep about bogus papers at third-tier publication venues, because no one will ever read them. But this is different.

                      – Thomas
                      55 mins ago











                    • Science/Nature have a worse record than ACS journals in my experience. They chase a lot of hype science.

                      – guest
                      52 mins ago
















                    0














                    There are about a gazillion papers with problems with them. And authors who don't want to fix them, don't think they're wrong, whatever.




                    1. Just resign yourself to the imperfection of the published literature. Really, killing yourself with worry that there is a science paper with a mistake in it is like the XKCD cartoon about "someone is wrong on the Internet". https://xkcd.com/386/


                    2. Failing that, write a paper of your own to correct/dispute the issue. Either a direct comment/critique (harder avenue). Or a paper with some new contribution but that allows revisiting the work of the other group and dissing it en passant (easier avenue).







                    share|improve this answer








                    New contributor




                    guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.





















                    • I don’t lose sleep about bogus papers at third-tier publication venues, because no one will ever read them. But this is different.

                      – Thomas
                      55 mins ago











                    • Science/Nature have a worse record than ACS journals in my experience. They chase a lot of hype science.

                      – guest
                      52 mins ago














                    0












                    0








                    0







                    There are about a gazillion papers with problems with them. And authors who don't want to fix them, don't think they're wrong, whatever.




                    1. Just resign yourself to the imperfection of the published literature. Really, killing yourself with worry that there is a science paper with a mistake in it is like the XKCD cartoon about "someone is wrong on the Internet". https://xkcd.com/386/


                    2. Failing that, write a paper of your own to correct/dispute the issue. Either a direct comment/critique (harder avenue). Or a paper with some new contribution but that allows revisiting the work of the other group and dissing it en passant (easier avenue).







                    share|improve this answer








                    New contributor




                    guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.










                    There are about a gazillion papers with problems with them. And authors who don't want to fix them, don't think they're wrong, whatever.




                    1. Just resign yourself to the imperfection of the published literature. Really, killing yourself with worry that there is a science paper with a mistake in it is like the XKCD cartoon about "someone is wrong on the Internet". https://xkcd.com/386/


                    2. Failing that, write a paper of your own to correct/dispute the issue. Either a direct comment/critique (harder avenue). Or a paper with some new contribution but that allows revisiting the work of the other group and dissing it en passant (easier avenue).








                    share|improve this answer








                    New contributor




                    guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.









                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer






                    New contributor




                    guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.









                    answered 1 hour ago









                    guestguest

                    663




                    663




                    New contributor




                    guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.





                    New contributor





                    guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.






                    guest is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                    Check out our Code of Conduct.













                    • I don’t lose sleep about bogus papers at third-tier publication venues, because no one will ever read them. But this is different.

                      – Thomas
                      55 mins ago











                    • Science/Nature have a worse record than ACS journals in my experience. They chase a lot of hype science.

                      – guest
                      52 mins ago



















                    • I don’t lose sleep about bogus papers at third-tier publication venues, because no one will ever read them. But this is different.

                      – Thomas
                      55 mins ago











                    • Science/Nature have a worse record than ACS journals in my experience. They chase a lot of hype science.

                      – guest
                      52 mins ago

















                    I don’t lose sleep about bogus papers at third-tier publication venues, because no one will ever read them. But this is different.

                    – Thomas
                    55 mins ago





                    I don’t lose sleep about bogus papers at third-tier publication venues, because no one will ever read them. But this is different.

                    – Thomas
                    55 mins ago













                    Science/Nature have a worse record than ACS journals in my experience. They chase a lot of hype science.

                    – guest
                    52 mins ago





                    Science/Nature have a worse record than ACS journals in my experience. They chase a lot of hype science.

                    – guest
                    52 mins ago


















                    draft saved

                    draft discarded




















































                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Academia Stack Exchange!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid



                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function () {
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2facademia.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f125806%2fwhat-to-do-if-authors-dont-respond-to-my-serious-concerns-about-their-paper%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                    }
                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    Why do type traits not work with types in namespace scope?What are POD types in C++?Why can templates only be...

                    Will tsunami waves travel forever if there was no land?Why do tsunami waves begin with the water flowing away...

                    Simple Scan not detecting my scanner (Brother DCP-7055W)Brother MFC-L2700DW printer can print, can't...