Over the past year, significant scandals related to academic research have been scrutinized as dedicated researchers have uncovered manipulated studies that passed through peer-review and are now being retracted.
Recently, the Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology journal retracted a review, safety evaluation, and risk assessment of the herbicide Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, due to the heavy involvement of Monsanto in its production.
The journal stated, “This decision has been made after careful consideration of the COPE guidelines and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the authorship and content of this article and in light of no response having been provided to address the findings.”
It was revealed that Monsanto employees contributed to the study, but their involvement was not disclosed, and there are suspicions that the authors may have been paid by Monsanto.
The Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology journal had previously been cited in support of glyphosate, which is found in Roundup. However, recent legal cases have linked Roundup exposure to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leading to Bayer taking over related lawsuits after acquiring Monsanto.
Meanwhile, the lead author of the study, Gary Williams, is currently missing in action.
Internal emails from 2015 indicated collaboration between Monsanto employees and the study authors, with discussions about ghost-writing certain sections of the research to save costs.
After nearly a decade, the journal finally retracted the questionable study, while other journals also expressed concerns about similar studies authored by Williams due to the lack of disclosure regarding Monsanto’s involvement.
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