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Background: Hypertension is a silent killer disease and the global report revealed that half of the world's population lives with undiagnosed hypertension. The problem is expected to be worse in low-income countries such as in Horn of Africa countries. Thus, we planned to determine the trend, burden, and determinates of undiagnosed hypertension in this region and provide conclusive and tangible evidence for interventions. Method: Articles were searched on Google, Google Scholar, PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and the published articles' reference list. The JBI critical appraisal checklist was used for quality assessment. A sensitivity test and I2 statistics were conducted to evaluate the heterogeneity. The Begg's statistics in the random effect model were done to evaluate the publication bias. Result: The pooled prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension in the Horn of Africa was 17% (95% CI: 15%–20%) and it ranges from from 13% in 2006 to 20% in 2023. A trip time to a medical institution of less than 35 minutes (OR = 0.52, 95%CI: 0.35–0.79), no regular exercise (OR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.54–3.32), age > = 45 years (OR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.66–3.8), age 35–44 years (OR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.5–2.37), male (OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.34–2.2), poor knowledge (OR = 3.29, 95%CI: 2.39,4.53), normal BMI (OR = 3.84, 95% CI: 2.96–4.98), Overweight (OR = 1.97, 95% CI: 2.96–4.98), poor health seeking (OR = 2.79, 95%CI: 2.01–3.86), low vegetable consumers (OR = 1.99, 95%CI:1.36–2.91), smoking (OR = 1.47, 95%CI: 1.13–1.93), high triglyceride (OR = 1.83, 95%CI:1.33–2.52), chat chewing (OR = 2.18, 95%CI: 1.54–3.09), and alcohol drinking (OR = 1.75, 95%CI: 1.32–2.33) were the determinats of undiagnosed hypertension. Conclusion and recommendation: The pooled prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension was low in the Horn of Africa but its trend was increased over time. Individual level variables were identified that affect the undiagnosed hypertension. Therefore, healthy lifestyle is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With more than 1.2 million illnesses and 29,000 deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, typhoid fever continues to be a major public health problem. Effective control of the disease would benefit from an understanding of the subnational geospatial distribution of the disease incidence. Method: We collated records of the incidence rate of typhoid fever confirmed by culture of blood in Africa from 2000 to 2022. We estimated the typhoid incidence rate for sub-Saharan Africa on 20 km × 20 km grids by exploring the association with geospatial covariates representing access to improved water and sanitation, health conditions of the population, and environmental conditions. Results: We identified six published articles and one pre-print representing incidence rate estimates in 22 sites in 2000–2022. Estimated incidence rates showed geospatial variation at sub-national, national, and regional levels. The incidence rate was high in Western and Eastern African subregions followed by Southern and Middle African subregions. By age, the incidence rate was highest among 5–14 yo followed by 2–4 yo, > 14 yo, and 0–1 yo. When aggregated across all age classes and grids that comprise each country, predicted incidence rates ranged from 43.7 (95% confidence interval: 0.6 to 591.2) in Zimbabwe to 2,957.8 (95% CI: 20.8 to 4,245.2) in South Sudan per 100,000 person-years. Sub-national heterogeneity was evident with the coefficient of variation at the 20 km × 20 km grid-level ranging from 0.7 to 3.3 and was generally lower in high-incidence countries and widely varying in low-incidence countries. Conclusion: Our study provides estimates of 20 km × 20 km incidence rate of typhoid fever across sub-Saharan Africa based on data collected from 2000 through 2020. Increased understanding of the subnational geospatial variation of typhoid fever in Africa may inform more effective intervention programs by better targeting resources to heterogeneously disturbed disease risk. Author summary: Typhoid fever remains a significant health challenge in low- and middle-income nations, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. A comprehensive understanding of the disease's geospatial distribution is pivotal for its control—a gap previous studies overlooked. Addressing this, we undertook a study to chart the incidence of typhoid fever throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from 2000 to 2022, we developed high-resolution maps with a granularity of 20 km by 20 km, detailing the spatial distribution of typhoid incidence. Our findings reveal pronounced disparities in typhoid incidence across different geospatial tiers: from local communities to entire nations and regions. Particularly, Western and Eastern Africa registered the highest incidences, with children aged 5–14 years being the most vulnerable. Distinctively, countries such as South Sudan reported alarmingly high figures, whereas Zimbabwe had notably fewer cases. Such insights are indispensable for health policymakers at local, national, and global levels. Pinpointing the areas hardest hit by typhoid allows for a more strategic allocation of resources and interventions. Armed with this data, we're better positioned to fight typhoid effectively and safeguard lives in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Fatal Prion Disease in a Mouse Model of Genetic E200K Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease" published in PLoS Pathogens was retracted due to concerns about the integrity of the data and results presented. Issues were raised regarding discontinuities in figures, splice lines, and similarities between panels. Despite attempts to address the concerns, they were not resolved, leading to the retraction of the article by the PLOS Pathogens Editors. Some authors did not agree with the retraction or could not be reached for comment. [Extracted from the article]

The Delphi method is an iterative, anonymous, group-based process for eliciting and aggregating opinion on a topic to explore the existence of consensus among experts. The year 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the first peer-reviewed journal article on the Delphi method. Originally developed for operations research, this method is now applied extensively by researchers representing diverse scientific fields. We used a bibliometric analysis to describe general trends in the expansion of its use across disciplines over time. We conducted a systematic literature search for all English-language, peer-reviewed journal articles on the Delphi method through its first 60 years. We found 19,831 articles: 96.8% (n = 19,204) on the actual use of the Delphi method in an empirical study and 3.2% (n = 627) describing, examining, or providing some guidance on how to use the Delphi method. Almost half (49.9%) of all articles were published in the 2010s and an additional third (32.5%) in the first few years of the 2020s. Nearly two-thirds (65%, n = 12,883) of all published articles have appeared in medical journals, compared to 15% in science and technology (n = 3,053) or social science (n = 3,016) journals. We conclude that the expanded use of the Delphi method has been driven largely by the medical field, though social scientists and technologists continue to be at the forefront of methodological work on the Delphi method. Therefore, we call for greater transdisciplinary collaboration on methodological guidance and standards for the Delphi method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schistosomiasis is a tropical and subtropical parasitic infection that affects both animals and humans. It's caused by the Schistosoma genus and spreads via snails as an intermediate host. Schistosoma bovis is widely spread in Ethiopia's Northern, Eastern, Southwestern, and Central regions. It is an economically significant cattle disease with global health implications. Despite numerous prevalence studies of bovine schistosomiasis in different regions of the country, no systematic review and meta-analysis of the disease has ever been undertaken. As a reason, the purpose of this research was to provide information that can be used in the planning and design of Schistosoma interventions in Ethiopia, as the world aims to eliminate schistosomiasis as a public health problem by 2030. The PRISMA statement guidline was used to check the eligiblities of the included studies. Electronic bibliographic databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, HINARI, and Web of science, reference lists from retriv articles, books, libraries, megazins and existing reviews manaually were employed for literature searches. The pooled prevalence of bovine schistosomiasis and heterogeneity among included studies was estimated by employing random effect models and the inverse variance index, respectively. To investigate the source of heterogeneity across and within studies, subgroup analysis was undertaken based on sample size, study years, and study regions. To assess publication bias and small study effects, funnel plotsand Egger's regression test were used. The pooled prevalence was calculated with a 95% confidence interval using STATA 17 software. To identify the various risk variables related to the prevalence of bovine schistosomiasis, a pooled odd ratio was used Based on the inclusion criteria, a total of 20 studies were discovered and included in the meta-analysis. The prevalence of bovine schistosomiasis was found to range from 22 to 45.7%. In this meta-analysis, the estimated pooled prevalence of bovine schistosomiasis was 24% (95% CI: 17% to 31%). Substantial heterogeneity was observed across the included studies (I2 = 88.04%; p< 0.001). The results of the funnel plot and Egger'stests revealed no substantial publication bias (Egger's test; p = 0.509). The pooled odds ratio indicated that poor body condition was positively associated with the infection rate of bovine schistosomiasis (OR: 4.915, 95% CI: 2.675 to 9.030; p<0.001), with poor body conditioned animals having 4.915 times higher likelihood to schistosomiasis infection. This review found that the overall prevalence of bovine schistosomiasis was high and the body condition of animals was identified risk factor for Schistosoma infection among the studied factors. Therefore, this review found that the occurrence of bovine schistosomiasis was strongly associated with the state of body condition of animals. Further, sufficient numbers of prospective studies should be conducted to address other potential risk factors of bovine schistosomiasis in Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the absence of minimum acceptable diet, children aged 6–23 months are vulnerable to malnutrition. Not feeding at least the minimum acceptable diet is a major global problem, particularly in developing countries. Even though many studies have been conducted in Ethiopia there are inconsistencies. Therefore, this review aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of a minimum acceptable diet in Ethiopia. Methods: Published articles from various electronic databases, such as PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and Science Direct were systematically searched. All cross-sectional studies conducted on the minimum acceptable diet of children aged 6–24 months and published up to October 30/2021 were included in this review. Data were extracted using an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using STATA version 14.1. The random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence, and a subgroup analysis was performed to identify the possible source of heterogeneity. Begg's and Egger's tests were used to identify possible publication bias. Results: Nine cross-sectional studies involving 4,223 participants were included. Significant heterogeneity was observed across the studies (I2 = 99.4%). The pooled prevalence of minimum acceptable diet in Ethiopia was found to be 25.69% (95% CI: 11.96, 39.41) Conclusion: This review revealed that the minimum acceptable dietary intake among children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia was relatively low; only 1 in 4 of children met the minimum acceptable diet. This indicates that the government should promote child feeding practices according to guidelines to increase the proportion of children with a minimum acceptable diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Chromosomal Integrity after UV Irradiation Requires FANCD2-Mediated Repair of Double Strand Breaks" published in PLoS Genetics. The correction addresses errors in the representative images and panels in the article. The corrected versions of the images and panels are provided in the notice, along with additional supporting information such as quantitative data and raw data. The authors apologize for the errors in the published article. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Metformin inhibits the proliferation of benign prostatic epithelial cells." The correction addresses concerns raised about specific figures in the article. The authors acknowledge errors in the figures and provide corrected panels and original raw data for those figures. The primary data underlying the results were not included in the published article, despite the Data Availability Statement stating otherwise. The authors apologize for the errors. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a correction notice for an article published in PLoS ONE. The correction addresses concerns about the relationship between the published article and a previously published article that was cited in it. The two studies have different objectives but are part of the same larger project. The correction also mentions that certain data describing a group of herbal supplement users were duplicated in the figures and tables of both articles. The authors apologize for this omission and provide corrected citations for a reference in the introduction. Additionally, the Data Availability statement for the article was incorrect, and the correct data are provided in a separate file. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper, climate change in the Jinping area is investigated. The climate change trend in the Jinping area is studied by plotting the porosity value of the carbonate rocks as a curve. By comparing the curve established using the climate change data from published articles, it is found that the B value curve obtained using the saddle line is the closest to the curve established using the climate change data from published articles. This shows that the carbonate porosity in the Jinping area obtained using an image analysis technique can be used for climate change research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Growing evidence suggests that alcohol consumption is a risk factor for hearing loss; however, the evidence has been inconsistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effect of alcohol consumption on hearing loss. Methods: We searched several databases up to November 2021, for published articles using the keywords "alcohol drinking" and "hearing loss". Two investigators independently conducted the study selection and data extraction. Based on the results of the heterogeneity analysis (Q statistic and I2 statistic), a fixed- or random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled odds ratios (ORs). Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the potential sources of heterogeneity and robustness of the pooled estimation. Publication bias in the literature was evaluated using Egger's test. Results: In total, 18 (9 cross-sectional, 5 case-control, and 4 cohort) observational studies were identified in this search; 27,849 participants were included. Compared with non-drinkers, the pooled OR of drinkers was 1.22 (95% confidence interval: 1.09–1.35). Conclusion: Evidence suggests a positive association between alcohol consumption and hearing loss. Drinkers were at a higher risk than non-drinkers. Drinking limitations may be useful for preventing hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "replication crisis" is a methodological problem in which many scientific research findings have been difficult or impossible to replicate. Because the reproducibility of empirical results is an essential aspect of the scientific method, such failures endanger the credibility of theories based on them and possibly significant portions of scientific knowledge. An instance of the replication crisis, analytic replication, pertains to reproducing published results through computational reanalysis of the authors' original data. However, direct replications are costly, time-consuming, and unrewarded in today's publishing standards. We propose that bioinformatics and computational biology students replicate recent discoveries as part of their curriculum. Considering the above, we performed a pilot study in one of the graduate-level courses we developed and taught at our University. The course is entitled Intro to R Programming and is meant for students in our Master's and PhD programs who have little to no programming skills. As the course emphasized real-world data analysis, we thought it would be an appropriate setting to carry out this study. The primary objective was to expose the students to real biological data analysis problems. These include locating and downloading the needed datasets, understanding any underlying conventions and annotations, understanding the analytical methods, and regenerating multiple graphs from their assigned article. The secondary goal was to determine whether the assigned articles contained sufficient information for a graduate-level student to replicate its figures. Overall, the students successfully reproduced 39% of the figures. The main obstacles were the need for more advanced programming skills and the incomplete documentation of the applied methods. Students were engaged, enthusiastic, and focused throughout the semester. We believe that this teaching approach will allow students to make fundamental scientific contributions under appropriate supervision. It will teach them about the scientific process, the importance of reporting standards, and the importance of openness. Author summary: Many scientific findings have been difficult or impossible to reproduce, resulting in the "replication crisis." Because the repeatability of empirical data is a vital component of the scientific process, such errors imperil the validity of hypotheses dependent on them and potentially significant amounts of scientific knowledge. Nevertheless, direct replications are expensive, time-consuming, and unrewarded in today's publishing standards. Thus, we suggest that bioinformatics and computational biology students reproduce current findings as part of their coursework. In one of the graduate-level courses, Intro to R Programming, we conducted a pilot study in which we asked the students to reproduce figures from published articles. The course is for students in our Master's and PhD programs who have little to no programming experience and focus on the difficulties of analyzing real-world data. They recreated 39% out of the assigned figures, with the most significant barrier being the requirement for more sophisticated programming abilities and a lack of documentation for the methods used. We noticed that students find it fascinating and enjoyable to replicate scientific results. Properly supervised, it will allow them to make essential scientific contributions. It will also teach them about the scientific process, the relevance of reporting standards, and the value of transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, titled "Retraction: Interleukin-6 Synthesis in Human Chondrocytes Is Regulated via the Antagonistic Actions of Prostaglandin (PGE2) and 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-PGJ2," was retracted due to concerns raised about several figures. The concerns revolve around similarities between certain lanes and panels in the figures, indicating potential image manipulation. The corresponding author was unable to provide the underlying data to address these concerns. As a result, the editors of PLOS ONE decided to retract the article. The retraction decision was supported by one of the authors, while the other authors did not respond or could not be reached. It should be noted that some panels in the article were previously published and may not have been offered under a CC-BY 4.0 license. [Extracted from the article]

This article, titled "Retraction: Interleukin-6 Synthesis in Human Chondrocytes Is Regulated via the Antagonistic Actions of Prostaglandin (PGE2) and 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-PGJ2," was retracted due to concerns raised about several figures. The concerns revolve around similarities between certain lanes and panels in the figures, indicating potential image manipulation. The corresponding author was unable to provide the underlying data to address these concerns. As a result, the editors of PLOS ONE decided to retract the article. The retraction decision was supported by one of the authors, while the other authors did not respond or could not be reached. It should be noted that some panels in the article were previously published and may not have been offered under a CC-BY 4.0 license. [Extracted from the article]

A narrative systematic literature review was conducted to explore resilient performance in defence and security settings. A search strategy was employed across a total of five databases, searching published articles from 2001 onwards that assessed performance and optimal function in relation to resilience, in defence and security personnel. Following narrative synthesis, studies were assessed for quality. Thirty-two articles met inclusion criteria across a range of performance domains, including, but not limited to, course selection, marksmanship, land navigation, and simulated captivity. Some of the key findings included measures of mental toughness, confidence, and a stress-is-enhancing mindset being positively associated with performance outcomes. There was mixed evidence for the predictive value of biomarkers, although there was some support for cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and neuropeptide-y (NPY), and vagal reactivity. Interventions to improve resilient performance were focused on mindfulness or general psychological skills, with effects generally clearer on cognitive tasks rather than direct performance outcomes in the field. In sum, no single measure, nor intervention was consistently associated with performance over a range of domains. To inform future work, findings from the present review have been used to develop a framework of resilient performance, with the aim to promote theoretically informed work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Preprints have been widely cited during the COVID-19 pandemics, even in the major medical journals. However, since subsequent publication of preprint is not always mentioned in preprint repositories, some may be inappropriately cited or quoted. Our objectives were to assess the reliability of preprint citations in articles on COVID-19, to the rate of publication of preprints cited in these articles and to compare, if relevant, the content of the preprints to their published version. Methods: Articles published on COVID in 2020 in the BMJ, The Lancet, the JAMA and the NEJM were manually screened to identify all articles citing at least one preprint from medRxiv. We searched PubMed, Google and Google Scholar to assess if the preprint had been published in a peer-reviewed journal, and when. Published articles were screened to assess if the title, data or conclusions were identical to the preprint version. Results: Among the 205 research articles on COVID published by the four major medical journals in 2020, 60 (29.3%) cited at least one medRxiv preprint. Among the 182 preprints cited, 124 were published in a peer-reviewed journal, with 51 (41.1%) before the citing article was published online and 73 (58.9%) later. There were differences in the title, the data or the conclusion between the preprint cited and the published version for nearly half of them. MedRxiv did not mentioned the publication for 53 (42.7%) of preprints. Conclusions: More than a quarter of preprints citations were inappropriate since preprints were in fact already published at the time of publication of the citing article, often with a different content. Authors and editors should check the accuracy of the citations and of the quotations of preprints before publishing manuscripts that cite them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "Retraction: Arid3b Is Critical for B Lymphocyte Development" was retracted due to concerns about falsified data in Figure 6B. The University of Texas at Austin investigated the matter and concluded that the figure reported falsified data. Additionally, the primary data were not provided with the published article, which goes against the PLOS Data Availability policy. The authors of the article apologized for the issues and stand by the article's findings, except for one author who did not agree with the retraction. The retracted figure included material from a separate publication that is not offered under a CC BY license. [Extracted from the article]

Covid-19 has been front and center in the global landscape since the beginning of 2020. In response, the scientific field has dedicated enormous amounts of resources to researching the virus and its effects. The number of times Covid-19 publications are being cited throughout the literature appears remarkably high but has not been directly compared to non-Covid-19 papers in the same journals over an extended period. In our study, we use Clarivate's Web of Science—Science Citation Index Expanded™ database to identify Covid-19 papers published in 24 major scientific journals over a period of 24 months from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021. We conduct our search using keywords "Covid-19", "coronavirus", and "sars-cov-2" to locate publications with these words in the title. We then quantify the number of citations these papers have received and compare rates to non-Covid-19 papers in the same journals over the same timeframe. We find that, across 24 open-access and subscription-based scientific journals, Covid-19 papers published in the past 2 years currently have a median citation rate of 120.79 compared to 21.63 for non-Covid-19 papers. When negative binomial regression is used to minimize the influence of other variables such as article number variation and field of research, Covid-19 papers have still experienced more than 80% increase in citations relative to non-Covid-19 papers. These novel findings demonstrate that Covid-19 papers are being cited at remarkably higher rates than non-Covid-19 articles contained within the same journals. This suggests that journal impact factor, which is a product of the number of citations that recently published articles receive, will likely be drastically influenced by the number of Covid-19 papers that a journal has included within its pages in the previous years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, mood induction procedures have been developed in experimental settings that are designed to facilitate studying the impact of mood states on biological and psychological processes. The aim of the present study was to conduct a systematic mapping review with the intention of describing the state of the art in the use of different types of autobiographical stimuli for mood induction procedures. Methods: Based on a search for publications from the period 2000–2021, conducted in four recognised databases (Scopus, Medline (PubMed), PsycINFO and Web of Science), we analysed a total of 126 published articles. Text mining techniques were used to extract the main themes related. Results: The induction of emotions through autobiographical memories is an area under construction and of growing interest. The data mining approach yielded information about the main types of stimuli used in these procedures, highlighting those that only employ a single type of cue, as well as the preference for verbal cues over others such as musical, olfactory and visual cues. This type of procedure has been used to induce both positive and negative emotions through tasks that require access to personal memories of specific events from a cue, requiring the person to set in motion different cognitive processes. The use of the latest technologies (fMRI, EEG, etc.) is also shown, demonstrating that this is a cutting-edge field of study. Conclusions: Despite the study of mood induction procedures still being a growing field, the present review provides a novel overview of the current state of the art in the field, which may serve as a framework for future studies on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human genetics has been proposed to play an essential role in inter-individual differences in respiratory virus infection occurrence and outcomes. To systematically understand human genetic contributions to respiratory virus infection, we developed the database dbGSRV, a manually curated database that integrated the host genetic susceptibility and severity studies of respiratory viruses scattered over literatures in PubMed. At present, dbGSRV contains 1932 records of genetic association studies relating 1010 unique variants and seven respiratory viruses, manually curated from 168 published articles. Users can access the records by quick searching, batch searching, advanced searching and browsing. Reference information, infection status, population information, mutation information and disease relationship are provided for each record, as well as hyperlinks to public databases in convenient of users accessing more information. In addition, a visual overview of the topological network relationship between respiratory viruses and associated genes is provided. Therefore, dbGSRV offers a convenient resource for researchers to browse and retrieve genetic associations with respiratory viruses, which may inspire future studies and provide new insights in our understanding and treatment of respiratory virus infection. Database URL: http://www.ehbio.com/dbGSRV/front/ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media has surrounded every area of life, and social media platforms have become indispensable for today's communication. Many journals use social media actively to promote and disseminate new articles. Its use to share the articles contributes many benefits, such as reaching more people and spreading information faster. However, there is no consensus in the studies that to evaluate between tweeted and non-tweeted papers regarding their citation numbers. Therefore, it was aimed to show the effect of social media on the citations of articles in the top ten communication-based journals. For this purpose, this work evaluated original articles published in the top 10 communication journals in 2018. The top 10 communication-based journals were chosen based on SCImago Journal & Country Rank (cited in 2019). Afterward, it was recorded the traditional citation numbers (Google Scholar and Thompson-Reuters Web of Science) and social media exposure of the articles in January 2021 (nearly three years after the articles' publication date). It was assumed that this period would allow the impact of the published articles (the citations and Twitter mentions) to be fully observed. Based on this assessment, a positive correlation between exposure to social media and article citations was observed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preprints allow researchers to make their findings available to the scientific community before they have undergone peer review. Studies on preprints within bioRxiv have been largely focused on article metadata and how often these preprints are downloaded, cited, published, and discussed online. A missing element that has yet to be examined is the language contained within the bioRxiv preprint repository. We sought to compare and contrast linguistic features within bioRxiv preprints to published biomedical text as a whole as this is an excellent opportunity to examine how peer review changes these documents. The most prevalent features that changed appear to be associated with typesetting and mentions of supporting information sections or additional files. In addition to text comparison, we created document embeddings derived from a preprint-trained word2vec model. We found that these embeddings are able to parse out different scientific approaches and concepts, link unannotated preprint–peer-reviewed article pairs, and identify journals that publish linguistically similar papers to a given preprint. We also used these embeddings to examine factors associated with the time elapsed between the posting of a first preprint and the appearance of a peer-reviewed publication. We found that preprints with more versions posted and more textual changes took longer to publish. Lastly, we constructed a web application (https://greenelab.github.io/preprint-similarity-search/) that allows users to identify which journals and articles that are most linguistically similar to a bioRxiv or medRxiv preprint as well as observe where the preprint would be positioned within a published article landscape. Preprints allow researchers to make their findings available to the scientific community before they have undergone peer review This study analyzes the full text content of the bioRxiv preprint repository, identifying field-specific patterns and changes that occur during publication, and providing a search tool that can identify the published papers that are most similar to a given bioRxiv or medRxiv preprint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, titled "Expression of Concern: Hyaluronan Hybrid Cooperative Complexes as a Novel Frontier for Cellular Bioprocesses Re-Activation," raises concerns about Figure 9. The CTR panels in the figure appear to overlap with the L-HA panels, despite representing different experimental conditions. The corresponding author acknowledged that this was due to an error in figure preparation and provided a corrected panel and underlying data. The PLOS ONE Editors are satisfied that this concern has been resolved and that the article's conclusions remain unaffected. However, it was noted that the underlying primary data for Figs 5 and 10 were not provided with the published article, contrary to the Data Availability statement. The authors stated that this data was no longer available but provided the underlying data for all other figures. As a result, the article does not comply with the PLOS ONE Data Availability policy. The available data are provided with this notice. [Extracted from the article]

The skill of analyzing and interpreting research data is central to the scientific process, yet it is one of the hardest skills for students to master. While instructors can coach students through the analysis of data that they have either generated themselves or obtained from published articles, the burgeoning availability of preprint articles provides a new potential pedagogical tool. We developed a new method in which students use a cognitive apprenticeship model to uncover how experts analyzed a paper and compare the professional's cognitive approach to their own. Specifically, students first critique research data themselves and then identify changes between the preprint and final versions of the paper that were likely the results of peer review. From this activity, students reported diverse insights into the processes of data presentation, peer review, and scientific publishing. Analysis of preprint articles is therefore a valuable new tool to strengthen students' information literacy and understanding of the process of science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether medRxiv data availability statements describe open or closed data—that is, whether the data used in the study is openly available without restriction—and to examine if this changes on publication based on journal data-sharing policy. Additionally, to examine whether data availability statements are sufficient to capture code availability declarations. Design: Observational study, following a pre-registered protocol, of preprints posted on the medRxiv repository between 25th June 2019 and 1st May 2020 and their published counterparts. Main outcome measures: Distribution of preprinted data availability statements across nine categories, determined by a prespecified classification system. Change in the percentage of data availability statements describing open data between the preprinted and published versions of the same record, stratified by journal sharing policy. Number of code availability declarations reported in the full-text preprint which were not captured in the corresponding data availability statement. Results: 3938 medRxiv preprints with an applicable data availability statement were included in our sample, of which 911 (23.1%) were categorized as describing open data. 379 (9.6%) preprints were subsequently published, and of these published articles, only 155 contained an applicable data availability statement. Similar to the preprint stage, a minority (59 (38.1%)) of these published data availability statements described open data. Of the 151 records eligible for the comparison between preprinted and published stages, 57 (37.7%) were published in journals which mandated open data sharing. Data availability statements more frequently described open data on publication when the journal mandated data sharing (open at preprint: 33.3%, open at publication: 61.4%) compared to when the journal did not mandate data sharing (open at preprint: 20.2%, open at publication: 22.3%). Conclusion: Requiring that authors submit a data availability statement is a good first step, but is insufficient to ensure data availability. Strict editorial policies that mandate data sharing (where appropriate) as a condition of publication appear to be effective in making research data available. We would strongly encourage all journal editors to examine whether their data availability policies are sufficiently stringent and consistently enforced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an expression of concern regarding a published article titled "Regulation of Brown Fat Adipogenesis by Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B." Concerns were raised about the results presented in Figures 1 and 5, specifically regarding similarities in certain bands. The corresponding author stated that they were not aware of any manipulation of the figures and that the original data is no longer available. Supporting data from repeat experiments were provided, but without the original underlying data, the concerns cannot be fully resolved. The document also includes links to supporting information and data provided by the corresponding author. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Leukocyte alterations are a common hematological alteration among malaria patients. Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to provide data and evidence comparing alterations in total leukocyte counts in malaria patients compared to febrile/healthy subjects at baseline before treatment. A systematic review was conducted by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Data sources: Web of Science (ISI), Scopus, and Medline. Study eligibility criteria, participants, and interventions: All published articles reporting a total leukocyte count of patients infected with malaria, non-malaria (febrile or healthy group) at baseline before treatment before August 27, 2019, were retrieved, and data were extracted by two main reviewers independently. Study appraisal and synthesis methods: We used a forest plot, heterogeneity test (Cochran's Q), and the degree of heterogeneity (I2) to test whether the included studies were heterogeneous. The quality of the included studies was determined by a quality assessment guide based on the quality assessment tool developed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Cochran's Q (Chi-square) and Moran's I2 were used to evaluate heterogeneity. Meta-regression using STATA software was conducted to find the source of heterogeneity. A funnel plot with Egger's test was used to examine the significance of publication bias among the included studies. The mean differences were estimated using a random-effects model. Results: Out of the 2,261 articles screened, 29 articles were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The heterogeneity test indicated that there was heterogeneity among the included studies with no publication bias. The meta-analysis demonstrated that the total leukocyte count was significantly lower in patients with malaria (n = 4,619) than in those without malaria (n = 10,056) (Z = 4.0, P-value < 0.00001, mean difference = -1.38, 95% CI = -2.06-(-0.71)). Leukocyte differential alterations, low lymphocyte counts (P-value <0.0001, mean difference = -1.03, 95% CI = -1.53-(-0.53)) and a high NL ratio were found in the malaria group (n = 1,579) compared to the non-malaria group (n = 4,991) (P-value <0.0001, mean difference = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.32–0.88). The subgroup analysis indicated that there was a significantly lower total leukocyte count in the malaria group (n = 3,545) than in the febrile group (n = 8,947) (Z = 1.33, P-value < 0.0001, mean difference = -1.76, 95% CI = -2.56-(-0.96)), but no significant difference was found between the malaria group (n = 1,232) and the healthy group (n = 1,679) (P-value > 0.05). Limitations: As the specific diagnoses in the febrile groups were not reported in the included studies so that the results of the present study need to be carefully interpreted. Conclusions and implications of key findings: This systematic review demonstrated that the total leukocyte count was affected by malarial infection at baseline despite the heterogeneity of the included studies. Future work must aim to understand the treatment-related total leukocyte reduction during follow-up or post-treatment outcomes in malaria-endemic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining scientific data over a long-time period is necessary for generating large-scale datasets, which are an essential component of comparative analysis for understanding evolutionary processes. Furthermore, monitoring temporal and spatial distributions of animals at a global and regional scale is essential for studying climate change driven extinction risks. Regional and global datasets focusing on different animal groups are on the rise to meet such challenges. Although being one of the earliest and best-known insect groups, the data on Odonata remains rudimentary and dispersed, especially in the South Asian region. Bangladesh, being located within a biodiversity hotspot, possesses a large number of odonate species and many of them are endemic to the South Asian region. We have developed an online database for the Odonata of Bangladesh by compiling and digitizing data from our last four years of field studies, from previously published research articles and field guides, and also by collecting data from citizen scientists. The Odonata of Bangladesh database (accessible at http://www.odobd.org) contains phenotypic, genotypic, photographic, taxonomic, biogeographic and faunistic data of the Odonata of Bangladesh. The database will be a valuable resource for understanding diversity, distributions, extinction risks and conservation planning of the Odonata of Bangladesh. Finally, phenotypic, spatial and temporal data of Odonata of Bangladesh datasets can be integrated with other regional datasets for analyzing macroevolutionary trends and to monitor the effect of climate change on odonates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notice of republicationThe published article incorrectly associated an incorrect ORCID iD with Ahmad Al-Omari. This article was republished on March 5, 2024 to rectify this error. Please download this article again to view the correct version. [Extracted from the article]

The relevance of extracellular DNA (eDNA) in the soil ecosystem is becoming more and more evident to the scientific community by the progressive discovery of functions accompanying to natural gene transformation. However, despite the increased number of published articles dedicated to eDNA in soil, so far only few are focused on its single stranded form (eDNAss). The present paper is the first to investigate the quantitative relevance of eDNAss in the total soil eDNA pool, discriminating between its linear (eDNAssl) and circular (eDNAssc) forms and the respective weakly (wa) and tightly (ta) adsorbed fractions. The results showed the prevalence of eDNAss and its linear form in both the total soil eDNA pool and its wa and ta fractions. Both of the eDNAss fractions (linear and circular) were characterized by small fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study estimates the effect of data sharing on the citations of academic articles, using journal policies as a natural experiment. We begin by examining 17 high-impact journals that have adopted the requirement that data from published articles be publicly posted. We match these 17 journals to 13 journals without policy changes and find that empirical articles published just before their change in editorial policy have citation rates with no statistically significant difference from those published shortly after the shift. We then ask whether this null result stems from poor compliance with data sharing policies, and use the data sharing policy changes as instrumental variables to examine more closely two leading journals in economics and political science with relatively strong enforcement of new data policies. We find that articles that make their data available receive 97 additional citations (estimate standard error of 34). We conclude that: a) authors who share data may be rewarded eventually with additional scholarly citations, and b) data-posting policies alone do not increase the impact of articles published in a journal unless those policies are enforced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyses of the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) have grown to be a major topic in scientometric literature. Despite widespread and justified critique concerning the JIF and its application, the size of a journal as a predictor for its longitudinal variability–or stability–on a long-term level has not yet comprehensively been analyzed. This study aims to provide robust evidence for an association between JIF variability and the size of journals, expressed by the number of published articles (citable items). For this purpose, the complete set of journals included in the Incite Journal Citation Reports (JCR) with an JIF in the 2017 JCR edition (n = 8750) were analyzed for the association between journal size and longitudinal JIF dynamics. Our results, based on n = 4792 journals with a complete JIF data set over the timespan of 12 annual JIF changes show that larger journals publishing more citable items experience smaller annual changes of the JIF than smaller journals, yet with this association being reversed for journals with a very large number of total cites. Consequently and in accordance with the genuine intention of the JIF to serve as a basis for decisions on journal subscriptions, evaluation of current changes of the JIF have to be accompanied by consideration of the journal's size in order to be accurate and sensible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic scientometric reviews, empowered by computational and visual analytic approaches, offer opportunities to improve the timeliness, accessibility, and reproducibility of studies of the literature of a field of research. On the other hand, effectively and adequately identifying the most representative body of scholarly publications as the basis of subsequent analyses remains a common bottleneck in the current practice. What can we do to reduce the risk of missing something potentially significant? How can we compare different search strategies in terms of the relevance and specificity of topical areas covered? In this study, we introduce a flexible and generic methodology based on a significant extension of the general conceptual framework of citation indexing for delineating the literature of a research field. The method, through cascading citation expansion, provides a practical connection between studies of science from local and global perspectives. We demonstrate an application of the methodology to the research of literature-based discovery (LBD) and compare five datasets constructed based on three use scenarios and corresponding retrieval strategies, namely a query-based lexical search (one dataset), forward expansions starting from a groundbreaking article of LBD (two datasets), and backward expansions starting from a recently published review article by a prominent expert in LBD (two datasets). We particularly discuss the relevance of areas captured by expansion processes with reference to the query-based scientometric visualization. The method used in this study for comparing bibliometric datasets is applicable to comparative studies of search strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-native species are a major driver of environmental change. In this study we assessed the ecological impact of the “worst” non-native species and the associated scientific and media publications through time to understand what influences interest in these species. Ecological effect was based on a qualitative assessment reported in research publications and additional searches of the scientific and media attention were conducted to determine published articles and assess attention. We did not detect a relationship between the number of publications for a non-native species and the magnitude of the ecological effects of that species or the number of citations. Media coverage on non-native species was low, only evident for less than 50% of the non-native species assessed. Media coverage was initially related to the number of scientific publications, but was short-lived. In contrast, the attention to individual non-native species in the scientific literature was sustained through time and often continued to increase over time. Time between detection of the non-native species and the scientific/media attention were reduced with each successive introduction to a new geographic location. Tracking publications on non-native species indicated that media attention does seem to be associated with the production of scientific research while scientific attention was not related to the magnitude of the ecological effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, titled "Expression of Concern: LRRK2 kinase plays a critical role in manganese-induced inflammation and apoptosis in microglia," was published in PLoS ONE. Concerns were raised about two figures in the article, specifically Fig 4 and Fig 9. The authors acknowledged errors in the preparation of the figures and provided additional data to address the concerns. However, it was noted that the primary data were not provided with the published article, which goes against the Data Availability Statement. As a result, the PLOS ONE Editors issued an Expression of Concern regarding the data availability. [Extracted from the article]

Notice of republicationThis article was republished on November 9, 2023, to remove a Supporting Information file that was incorrectly included in the originally published article. Please download this article again to view the correct version.Reference [Extracted from the article]

The vast majority of scientific articles published to-date have not been accompanied by concomitant publication of the underlying research data upon which they are based. This state of affairs precludes the routine re-use and re-analysis of research data, undermining the efficiency of the scientific enterprise, and compromising the credibility of claims that cannot be independently verified. It may be especially important to make data available for the most influential studies that have provided a foundation for subsequent research and theory development. Therefore, we launched an initiative—the Data Ark—to examine whether we could retrospectively enhance the preservation and accessibility of important scientific data. Here we report the outcome of our efforts to retrieve, preserve, and liberate data from 111 of the most highly-cited articles published in psychology and psychiatry between 2006–2011 (n = 48) and 2014–2016 (n = 63). Most data sets were not made available (76/111, 68%, 95% CI [60, 77]), some were only made available with restrictions (20/111, 18%, 95% CI [10, 27]), and few were made available in a completely unrestricted form (15/111, 14%, 95% CI [5, 22]). Where extant data sharing systems were in place, they usually (17/22, 77%, 95% CI [54, 91]) did not allow unrestricted access. Authors reported several barriers to data sharing, including issues related to data ownership and ethical concerns. The Data Ark initiative could help preserve and liberate important scientific data, surface barriers to data sharing, and advance community discussions on data stewardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined predictors of the development of Wikipedia articles that deal with controversial issues. We chose a corpus of articles in the German-language version of Wikipedia about alternative medicine as a representative controversial issue. We extracted edits made until March 2013 and categorized them using a supervised machine learning setup as either being pro conventional medicine, pro alternative medicine, or neutral. Based on these categories, we established relevant variables, such as the perspectives of articles and of authors at certain points in time, the (im)balance of an article’s perspective, the number of non-neutral edits per article, the number of authors per article, authors’ heterogeneity per article, and incongruity between authors’ and articles’ perspectives. The underlying objective was to predict the development of articles’ perspectives with regard to the controversial topic. The empirical part of the study is embedded in theoretical considerations about editorial biases and the effectiveness of norms and rules in Wikipedia, such as the neutral point of view policy. Our findings revealed a selection bias where authors edited mainly articles with perspectives similar to their own viewpoint. Regression analyses showed that an author’s perspective as well as the article’s previous perspectives predicted the perspective of the resulting edits, albeit both predictors interact with each other. Further analyses indicated that articles with more non-neutral edits were altogether more balanced. We also found a positive effect of the number of authors and of the authors’ heterogeneity on articles’ balance. However, while the effect of the number of authors was reserved to pro-conventional medicine articles, the authors’ heterogenity effect was restricted to pro-alternative medicine articles. Finally, we found a negative effect of incongruity between authors’ and articles’ perspectives that was pronounced for the pro-alternative medicine articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citation metrics are increasingly used to appraise published research. One challenge is whether and how to normalize these metrics to account for differences across scientific fields, age (year of publication), type of document, database coverage, and other factors. We discuss the pros and cons for normalizations using different approaches. Additional challenges emerge when citation metrics need to be combined across multiple papers to appraise the corpus of scientists, institutions, journals, or countries, as well as when trying to attribute credit in multiauthored papers. Different citation metrics may offer complementary insights, but one should carefully consider the assumptions that underlie their calculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their recognized limitations, bibliometric assessments of scientific productivity have been widely adopted. We describe here an improved method to quantify the influence of a research article by making novel use of its co-citation network to field-normalize the number of citations it has received. Article citation rates are divided by an expected citation rate that is derived from performance of articles in the same field and benchmarked to a peer comparison group. The resulting Relative Citation Ratio is article level and field independent and provides an alternative to the invalid practice of using journal impact factors to identify influential papers. To illustrate one application of our method, we analyzed 88,835 articles published between 2003 and 2010 and found that the National Institutes of Health awardees who authored those papers occupy relatively stable positions of influence across all disciplines. We demonstrate that the values generated by this method strongly correlate with the opinions of subject matter experts in biomedical research and suggest that the same approach should be generally applicable to articles published in all areas of science. A beta version of iCite, our web tool for calculating Relative Citation Ratios of articles listed in PubMed, is available at . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies show that open access (OA) articles—articles from scholarly journals made freely available to readers without requiring subscription fees—are downloaded, and presumably read, more often than closed access/subscription-only articles. Assertions that OA articles are also cited more often generate more controversy. Confounding factors (authors may self-select only the best articles to make OA; absence of an appropriate control group of non-OA articles with which to compare citation figures; conflation of pre-publication vs. published/publisher versions of articles, etc.) make demonstrating a real citation difference difficult. This study addresses those factors and shows that an open access citation advantage as high as 19% exists, even when articles are embargoed during some or all of their prime citation years. Not surprisingly, better (defined as above median) articles gain more when made OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the concept and the application of the impact factor (IF) have been subject to widespread critique, including concerns over its potential manipulation. This study provides a systematic analysis of significant journal Impact Factor changes, based on the relative contribution of either one or both variables of the IF equation (i.e. citations / articles as the numerator / denominator of the quotient). A cohort of JCR-listed journals which faced the most dramatic absolute IF changes between 2013 and 2014 (ΔIF ≥ 3.0, n = 49) was analyzed for the causes resulting in IF changes that theses journals have experienced in the last five years. Along with the variation by number of articles and citations, this analysis includes the relative change of both variables compared to each other and offers a classification of `valid`and `invalid`scenarios of IF variation in terms of the intended goal of the IF to measure journal quality. The sample cohort features a considerable incidence of IF increases (18%) which are qualified as `invalid`according to this classification because the IF increase is merely based on a favorably changing number of articles (denominator). The results of this analysis point out the potentially delusive effect of IF increases gained through effective shrinkage of publication output. Therefore, careful consideration of the details of the IF equation and possible implementation of control mechanisms versus the volatile factor of number of articles may help to improve the expressiveness of this metric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]