Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026
12:04
Engineering Oncogenic Heterozygous Gain-of-Function Mutations in Human Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells
Published on: March 10, 2023
Characterization of published errors in high-impact oncology journals
A Molckovsky1, M M Vickers, P A Tang
1Department of Medical Oncology, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.
Current Oncology (Toronto, Ont.)
|February 19, 2011
Summary
Published oncology research has a 4% annual error rate. Serious errors continue to propagate even after corrections are published, indicating a need for better error reporting and correction mechanisms in scientific literature.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Medical Publishing
- Scientific Integrity
Background:
- Published errors are common in scientific literature.
- The propagation of these errors can impact scientific understanding and clinical practice.
- Understanding error rates and propagation in oncology is crucial for maintaining research quality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the frequency and propagation rate of published errors in oncology literature.
- To identify factors contributing to the spread of these errors.
- To assess the impact of errata on error propagation.
Main Methods:
- Reviewed 10 major oncology journals for errata presentation.
- Surveyed Canadian oncologists on error awareness and reporting.
- Analyzed errors in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) and Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) from 2004-2007.
- Classified errors as trivial or serious and tracked citation propagation.
Main Results:
- Oncology journals have an annual error rate of approximately 4%.
- 33% of oncologists do not read errata, and 45% only read abstracts.
- Serious errors continued to be cited 2% of the time after errata publication.
- The time to publish errata was longer for serious errors (8.3 months) than trivial ones (3.5 months).
Conclusions:
- High-impact oncology journals exhibit significant error rates.
- Inconsistent reporting of noticed errors likely leads to an underestimation of the true error rate.
- Published errata reduce but do not eliminate the propagation of serious errors, highlighting ongoing challenges in scientific literature accuracy.
Related Concept Videos
02:18Cancer
Cancers arise due to mutations in genes involved in the regulation of cell division, which leads to unrestricted cell proliferation. Modern science and medicine have made great strides in the understanding and treatment of cancer, including eradicating cancer in some patients. However, there is still no cure for cancer. This is largely due to the fact that cancer is a large group of many diseases.
02:49Cancer Therapies
Cancer therapies are various modes of treatment, such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy that are administered to cancer patients.
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...
01:36Mismatch Repair
Overview
01:20Mismatch Repair
Organisms are capable of detecting and fixing nucleotide mismatches that occur during DNA replication. This sophisticated process requires identifying the new strand and replacing the erroneous bases with correct nucleotides. Mismatch repair is coordinated by many proteins in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
The Mutator Protein Family Plays a Key Role in DNA Mismatch Repair
The human genome has more than 3 billion base pairs of DNA per cell. Prior to cell division, that vast amount of genetic...
The Mutator Protein Family Plays a Key Role in DNA Mismatch Repair
The human genome has more than 3 billion base pairs of DNA per cell. Prior to cell division, that vast amount of genetic...
01:33Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes
Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
01:33Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes
Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...