It was a bit surprising for us that we had to wait at all. The @JAMANetworkOpen website proudly proclaims that comments will be put up after 2 days maximum, but a month after submission...still nothing
-
Show this thread
-
Finally, on the 8th of January, we checked back to see that both our comment and a response from the authors had been posted Our comment was strictly limited to 600 words (inc. references) The authors' response? Nearly 1,500pic.twitter.com/Rv32UoXhlQ
2 replies 19 retweets 187 likesShow this thread -
And guess what? We were right There was a clear mathematical error that completely reversed the results of the paper So the authors rewrote the whole thing to try and salvage something from the ruinspic.twitter.com/Bc9lZ1A5f3
1 reply 56 retweets 290 likesShow this thread -
Now, instead of showing that school closures kill more people than COVID-19, the paper shows that school closures either kill nobody at all or countless millions depending on whether your kids are in the US or EU I kid you notpic.twitter.com/mKC68SLiYc
4 replies 136 retweets 440 likesShow this thread -
For some context, the new figure of YLL that is caused by school closures if you cherry-pick just the results the authors would like to use means that 3 months of closed schools has cost more YLLs than influenza in the U.S. Since ~2015
1 reply 15 retweets 165 likesShow this thread -
Health Nerd Retweeted Health Nerd
I'm not going to go into just how awful the study is again, except to note that if you want your mind to boggle have a look at the threads belowhttps://twitter.com/GidMK/status/1348441370180997123?s=20 …
Health Nerd added,
Health NerdVerified account @GidMKSome movement to announce here: JAMA Open have now corrected this paper 2 months after it was published Unfortunately, it has gone from an error-filled useless analysis to a slightly less error-filled useless analysis Some more peer-review on twitter 1/n https://twitter.com/GidMK/status/1327872367893176320 …Show this thread1 reply 42 retweets 210 likesShow this thread -
But the real story here, to my mind, is that when junior colleagues CORRECTLY pointed out errors in a paper, they were ignored and belittled by editors and authors alike For months
3 replies 58 retweets 479 likesShow this thread -
Meanwhile, the paper has been cited a dozen times academically, is in planning and policy documents across the world, despite the fact that all of this happened when the work was quite simply wrong
3 replies 51 retweets 336 likesShow this thread -
Now, it's very hard to guess at the impact of such a paper, positive or negative But it is entirely possible that this study has literally killed people through the errors of the authors Who have called us "trolls" for pointing out the mistakes
6 replies 69 retweets 423 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @GidMK
We're in exactly the same boat for a (much less serious but still impactful) shark study. Paper received wide attention with false results, we submitted a comment but have yet to hear anything. Meanwhile it's already been cited and in the public domain...
1 reply 1 retweet 3 likes
It's a massive headache I think. The only reason there was any movement at all on this study was that we got some press because it is being used to guide COVID-19 policy
-
-
Replying to @GidMK
Well the sad thing is despite there still being some pretty appalling flaws with the paper you commented on, there's no mention of retraction. In these cases I feel the journals have a conflict of interest (impact factor, altmetrics) at odds with good science.
1 reply 1 retweet 3 likes -
Replying to @sawsharkman
Yep. The paper is now a truly atrocious waste of space, but the journal has steadfastly refused to even consider retraction
0 replies 2 retweets 3 likes
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.