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Academic Fraud – Exposes the Flaws of the Peer Review Process

We tell the students who we teach about using library resources that they should limit their research to peer reviewed journals for many topics. Particularly in the sciences. Many of our databases, Academic Search Premier, Expanded Academic and our mega-search tool, Summon, limiting to peer reviewed scholarly resources is a choice.  The Chronicle of Higher Education is reporting on an incident that took place in 2001. GlaxoSmithKline paid a ghost writer to write a paper that was accepted for publication in the peer review,  Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol. 40, (7) 2001 762-772. GlaxoSmithKline admitted its guilt and has paid 3 BILLION dollars, yes BILLION with a B. According to the Chronicle article, Paxil made over 11 billion dollars ust between 1993 and 2007.

The purported 22 authors were not from Podunk U (apologies to Podunk). These were people from Brown (who will not comment); University of Pittsburgh; UCLA;  New York University; Dalhousie University;  University of Pennsylvania; State University of New York at Stony Brook; Center for Health Research, Portland, OR; University of Texas; Washington University, St. Louis (my alma mater, tsk tsk); Grace-1WK Hospital, Halifax;  University of Toronto; Oregon Health Sciences University; New York State Psychiatric Institute; Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The list reads like the who’s who in major research universities. And nothing is happening to the researchers who have gone on to have prestigious positions at major universities, holding named positions, editors of journals and publishing in large quantities. Nothing is happening to this ‘prestigious’ journal NOR is the article being retracted. Did you know there is a Medical Subject Heading for Retracted articles? AND something allegedly did happen to the children who took this drug when it is not recommended for people under 18. Suicide.  That’s  the real tragedy here.

Cover image from AmazonIn 2008 the book Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial by Allison Bass was published. There are two copies in CLICnet. It documents this event.

For me, having been an academic medical librarian for 26 years prior to going to general academic libraries this admission does more than just put this article and these people into doubt. It puts the process into doubt.  If they thought they could get away with this, and they did for 11 years, it must be rampant in the scientific community. Oh, we’ll just let the drug maker write it up for us! We’ll get the credit, it will support our advancement and tenure documents, we’ll get more government grants.  It makes me feel that a Wikipedia article gets more scrutiny than a journal article in a prestigious journal. OK, kids, just go to Wikipedia. Watch out for the article by Keller, et. al.  (That’s more warning than any article that cites that 2001 article gives.)

August 7, 2012 by
News & Events

Rembrandt at the MIA

Rembrandt in AmericaNow through September 16th the Minneapolis Institute of Art is hosting Rembrandt in America and it is fabulous.  Advertised as the largest exhibit of Rembrandt in America, EVER, you will be blown away by both the quality of the Rembrandts gathered from all over the country – from a variety of respected museums and private collectors – and also by the way it is curated. They have put the true Rembrandts next to those that have been de-attributed: those done by others and intentionally sold as Rembrandts, staff artists in his workshop, and those which had appeared to be Rembrandts and have now been changed to reflect the known painters.

By the end of the exhibit you feel like you can tell the difference.  In addition to the show itself, which can be enjoyed by reading the captions, the museum allows you to enter their wireless network on your smartphone  (calling all artists the killer app for owning a smartphone), give you earphones, and which gives you access to the narration (no charge!) and to additional bits you would not have known about.   All for the price of admission.  The portrait to the left is a sketch of the painting that is in the exhibit – oh, there is also a whole room at the end with nothing but sketches – is of his wife, Saskia and taken from ARTstore, to which the library subscribes and is just one of the thousands of Rembrandt images in ARTstore. With this image the museum curators tell you that Rembrandt and Saskia were very much in love, despite the fact that she is in the painting as an apparent afterthought.

They go on to tell you about the terms of her will which will matter by the time you get to the end of the exhibit and see this painting which is absolutely tragic. He has painted his second ‘wife’ whom he also adored but could not marry because of the terms of Saski’s will.  Suicide of Lucretia

 I could go on and on and put more and more paintings in but I’ll stop now and tell you to go see it. Before you do, you may want to learn more about Rembrandt from the many resources the library owns. Oxford Art Online is a great place to start, yes even better than Wikipedia. And if you don’t want to read, you might want to watch one of our films about Rembrandt in Films on Demand from the privacy of your own home.

And if you want to see some recent articles on Rembrandt from the collections of the University of St. Thomas click here. This is a Summon search which provides a single search over much of the libraries’ contents.

No matter what you read or watch, make the trip to the MIA to see this exhibit. I want to go over and over again. Oh, make a reservation, they do sell out.

August 2, 2012 by
Libraries, News & Events

Break from the Heat (and Everything Else) with Our Popular Reading Collection Magazines

Stack of magazines

Finding academic, full text content online is easier than ever with Summon, our Google-like search of library resources, and our Research Guides by subject, which will get you started with the right databases. But what about the original full text? You know, actual print journals!? Turns out, they are easy to find, too, whether you are searching in Summon; CLICnet, our online catalog; or just browsing the stacks at O’Shaughnessy-Frey, Keffer, or Archbishop Ireland Memorial!

We also have many popular titles in print for you to enjoy while you’re ducking the heat and those languishing summer projects. Next time you are at the Minneapolis campus, why not stop into Keffer and catch up on the latest issues of Newsweek, The Economist, and Minnesota Monthly? Hiding out on the Saint Paul south campus, why not make a visit to Ireland to browse America, Harper’s, and see if there is anything good in The Atlantic Monthly? While missing our beloved Coffee Bené at OSF, why not stop in anyway to see what Consumer Reports is recommending this month and who is on the covers of Time and The Rolling Stone? From Runner’s World to Motor Trend to Wired, I bet we can find something to interest you!

Here is what you and others found most interesting during the last school year (Fiscal Year 2012).

Top 5 Most Used Print Journals at OSF

  1. Library Journal
  2. The New York Times Book Review
  3. Publisher’s Weekly
  4. The New Yorker
  5. Time

Top 5 Most Used Print Journals at Keffer

  1. The Economist
  2. Business Week
  3. Infants and Young Children
  4. Harvard Business Review
  5. Educational Leadership

And there are always newspapers, too! Come in and check it out!

July 17, 2012 by
Database Highlights & Trials, News & Events

VAST has a vast collection of films

VAST, which stands for Videos from Alexander STreet, is a huge collection (and growing) of streaming videos.  It covers just about every topic from art to ethnography, from history to engineering, from criminal justice and public safety to religion and philosophy.   This is a very interesting collection of films from such familiar publishers as A&E Networks, CBS,   the BBC,  United Newsreel Corporation and hundreds of others – familiar and un.  Here’s just a sample of the video titles:

There are actually 22 subject-based collections and I’d be willing to bet you could find just about any topic in this collection.  So, if you’re not in the mood to read, why not watch?

 

 

 

July 2, 2012 by
Business & Economics, Database Highlights & Trials, News & Events

Emerald Management is the new Dr. Frankenstein

It’s alive!  IT’S ALIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!  Emerald Management sent me an email today that reads,

Emerald Business and Management content is supported with a range of FREE videos and podcasts that bring to life the topics from Emerald’s peer-reviewed journals.

So the whole “bring to life” thing got me thinking about that sweet scene in the original Frankenstein where the good doctor goes all nutso. (As an aside I just want to say how much I enjoy the acting in old movies.  So subtle.  So nuanced).   And just because everything about this movie is HILARIOUS, I give you that same scene in Young Frankenstein.

I may have wandered slightly off-topic, but my point is Emerald Management is a collection of peer-reviewed management and business journals.  They’ve now supplemented their collection with free videos and podcasts to animate what’s being written about.  So if you like your management articles acted out, you might want to check out this new free resource.

June 20, 2012 by
Database Highlights & Trials, News & Events

Foreign Language Resources

I spent the weekend with a large group of people from different Scandinavian countries.  To a person they all spoke perfect English.  We wowed them right back with our awesome foreign language skills (i.e. “I need a taxi to the airport please” in Swedish or “how much does this cost” in stilted Norwegian.   We were not an impressive lot – Good thing all the guests were).  Which brings me to library resources in foreign languages.  Just to highlight a few…

  • Artfl-Frantext – not only does it have one of the BEST names, it’s also got nearly 3000 classics of French writing – classics, non-fiction, poetry.
  • National Film Board of Canada –  You can search for films in French or English and nearly half the films are in French.
  • Oxford Language Dictionaries –  translate from English to French or French to English. Or sign up for the word of the day.  Today’s word is perron which means flight of steps.  And cuz Oxford’s middle name is Fun, there are quizzes, games and puzzles.

 

  • Oxford Language Dictionaries –  translate from English to Spanish or Spanish to English. .  Today’s word is matadero which means slaughterhouse. Oh, and check this out – here’s how they chose to use it in a sentence:  “los soldados sabían que iban al matadero = the soldiers knew that they were going to their deaths”  Wow.  Dark much?
  • Fuente Academica has full-text articles from journals in Spanish.  It’s multidisciplinary, so lots of different topics to search.  Why not give it a search and read an article in Spanish just to keep your skills sharp?

 
Sadly we don’t have any Swedish language e-resources at this library.  I’ll find those at my public library and practice my Swedish so that next year I’ll have something more interesting to say than “the hen is brown” and “the girl wears a red dress.”   Ahhh, you gotta love phrasebooks.

June 11, 2012 by
Libraries, News & Events, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library, Uncategorized

Poetry on the Patio available for your enjoyment online

Karina Poyerd

UST Libraries have celebrated National Poetry Month for the past 14 years with Poetry on the Patio, an annual outdoor reading on the library terrace.  Recordings of  each are now posted online in a library research guide formatted by Karina Poyerd, library student assistant.  Thank you to library staff members including Talia Nadir, Ben Durrant, John Heintz, Merrie Davidson, and Laura Hansen, for taking a look at Karina’s work as she progressed through this project and providing her wonderful tips. 

Even though the site is still being edited and developed with additional links, you are all invited to visit Poetry on the Patio and enjoy a video of each of the 14 annual readings.  Then follow links to information about the poets selected, books written by the poets and, as often as possible, the text of the selected poems. 

May 16, 2012 by
Archbishop Ireland Library, Library Week

Drumroll, please! Announcing Library Week’s “Search for the Holy Grail” winners!

During National Library Week, we had a “Search for the Holy Grail” Treasure Hunt every day and invited everyone to participate. 

Here’s the winners and the “Holy Grail” treasure they found:

Student Workers modelling the new Ireland Library T-Shirt

  • Brandon Wanless was the first to find Tuesday’s Holy Grail:  John Henry Newman’s book, The Difficulties with Anglicans.
  • Christian Washburn was the first to find Wednesday’s Holy Grail in the 2012 Catholic Almanac in the Reference Room.
  • Kelsey Willits was the first to find Thursday’s Holy Grail, an Latin-English edition of the Code of Canon Law.
  • Brandon Wanless was the first to find Friday’s Holy Grail, Chevalier’s Repertoire des sources historiques du moyen âge in the Oversize Collection.

These winners recieved $5 on their Express card. 

At the end of Library Week, we had a drawing for this year’s Ireland Library T-shirt of all the people who found the Holy Grail.  The winner of the Grand Prize is Kelsey Willits. 

All 10 items on the Silent Auction found new homes.  Over $300 was raised for adding new books to Ireland Library collections. 

Library Week began with two full tables of used theology books.  Now it’s down to one and all of them are free.  Come and grab some titles to fill in your bookshelves.

Thanks to everyone who visited Ireland Library and made National Library Week great.  The used theology book sale, silent auction and “Search for the Holy Grail” Treasure Hunt were a success!

April 14, 2012 by