The mission of The Center for Scientific Integrity is to promote transparency and integrity in science and scientific publishing, and to disseminate best practices and increase efficiency in science.
The goals of The Center fall under four broad areas:
- A database of retractions, expressions of concern and related publishing events, generated by the work of Retraction Watch. The database will be freely available to scientists, scholars and anyone else interested in analyzing the information.
- Long-form, larger-impact writing, including magazine-length articles, reports and books.
- Scholarship on scientific integrity and incentives in science.
- Aid and assistance to groups and individuals whose interests in transparency and accountability intersect with ours, and who could benefit from shared expertise and resources.
The Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Leadership
Ivan Oransky, Executive Director
Ivan Oransky is cofounder of Retraction Watch, Editor in Chief of The Transmitter and Distinguished Journalist In Residence at New York University’s Carter Journalism Institute, where he teaches medical journalism in the Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program.
In the past, he has been vice president of editorial at Medscape, vice president and global editorial director of MedPage Today, executive editor of Reuters Health, managing editor, online, of Scientific American, deputy editor of The Scientist, and editor-in-chief of the now-defunct Praxis Post. From 2017 until 2021, he served as president of the Association of Health Care Journalists. For three years, he taught in the health and medicine track at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism.
He earned his bachelor’s at Harvard, where he was executive editor of The Harvard Crimson, and his MD at the New York University School of Medicine. In 2015, he was awarded the John P. McGovern Award for excellence in biomedical communication from the American Medical Writers Association, and in 2017, he received an honorary doctorate of civil laws from The University of the South (Sewanee). In 2019, the judges for the John Maddox Prize, which promotes those who stand up for science in the face of hostility, gave him a commendation for his work at Retraction Watch.
Adam Marcus, Editorial Director
Adam Marcus is the cofounder of Retraction Watch and editorial director for primary care at Medscape. He is the former managing editor of Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News. His freelance articles have appeared in Science, The Economist, The Christian Science Monitor, The Scientist, Birder’s World, Sciam.com, and many other publications and web sites.
Adam has an BA in history from the University of Michigan and an MA in science writing from Johns Hopkins.
Board of Directors
The volunteer members of the Board of Directors of The Center For Scientific Integrity (CSI) are deeply knowledgeable about scientific publishing, scientific integrity, and other issues relevant to the missions of Retraction Watch and CSI. They offer CSI management and staff strategic advice, feedback on specific proposals, and guidance on our work. The management and staff, not the Board, are responsible for day-to-day operations of Retraction Watch and our other efforts. We are deeply grateful for their support and counsel. They are:
- Ferric Fang, MD, editor in chief, Infection and Immunity; professor of laboratory medicine, microbiology, medicine and pathobiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
- Jasna Markovac, PhD, Senior Advisor, Academic Publishing, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Miguel Roig, PhD, professor of psychology, St. John’s University, Staten Island, New York, USA
- Steven Shafer, MD, former editor in chief, Anesthesia & Analgesia; professor of anesthesiology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA
- Mary Simmerling, PhD, Director, Write Where We Belong, Ottawa, Canada
- Richard Smith, MBBS, CBE, former editor in chief, British Medical Journal and chief executive of the BMJ Publishing Group; chair of Patients Know Best and icddr,b [formerly International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh] and adjunct professor Imperial College, London, UK
- David Vaux, MBBS, PhD, deputy director and joint division head, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia
Financial Information
The Center’s work is funded by the WoodNext Foundation, and has been funded by grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Trust.
Tax returns: