A Scientist Publishes a Paper in a Peer-Reviewed Journal; This

question 1

Multiple Choice

A scientist publishes a paper in a peer-reviewed journal; this paper is later retracted.Which of the following (if found to be true) is NOT a legitimate reason for the retraction?

• A) The study involved only 12 participants, but sweeping conclusions were made by the author. These participants were not randomly sampled; they were picked specifically for their symptoms. Furthermore, there was no control group.
• B) The findings could not be replicated, and there were many peer-reviewed studies, including millions of participants that found no evidence for the claims of the original paper.
• C) The primary author of the paper received large amounts of money as a paid expert for lawyers who were suing companies based on the author's claim. The author would also benefit financially in other ways, such as patents on alternative products.
• D) Although the findings were not replicated by other researchers, some studies indicated that the original paper might suggest a valid line of reasoning and warrants further investigation.

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Definitions:

Decibels

A unit of measurement for the intensity of sound, indicating the pressure of the sound wave relative to a reference level.

Visual Cortex

The region of the brain located in the occipital lobe responsible for processing visual information received from the eyes.

Color Vision

The ability of the eye and brain to perceive differences in wavelengths of light as differing colors, critical for distinguishing objects and visual signals.

Trichromatic Theory

A theory of color vision that proposes that the eye detects colors through the relative rates of response by three types of cones, each one sensitive to different light wavelengths.