It may be easier to publish than correct or retract faulty biomedical literature

Getting from an experimental result to a published paper is an energyand time-consuming process that involves the concerted effort by authors, editors, and publishers. Generally, a published paper represents a positive and celebratory outcome. Correcting errors in the literature is generally considered to be a positive academic achievement. In contrast, retracting erroneous or fraudulent work is still viewed in a negative light, even though it may simply be a necessary corrective measure because investments are lost, time is wasted, and effort is flushed away. Thus, supported by a base built on sand-like academic metrics-based incentives, there is no real incentive or desire to correct the literature, even if it is necessary, because that would hurt the status quo. If the culture of shame can be disassociated from the act of correcting the literature – which is not made any better by the existence of increasingly aggressive and emboldened science watchdogs – then it is likely that corrections might be embraced as a more natural process in science publishing, especially when errors might be truly erroneous. Such a change in mentality will require a total overhaul of peer communities, a change that has taken an entire career to establish and develop, and thus will not take place overnight to reform. The increasingly zombified state of biomedical publishing can only correct itself when several core issues are recognized, openly debated, and resolved through interaction with all concerned parties.