Allegation of scientific misconduct increases Twitter attention

TL;DR

This study examines how allegations of scientific misconduct can significantly influence Twitter attention, highlighting issues in using Twitter data for research evaluation.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of scientific misconduct allegations on Twitter attention and discusses the limitations of using Twitter data for research impact measurement.

Findings

Twitter attention increased following misconduct allegations

Twitter data can be misleading in research evaluation

Misconduct can distort altmetrics as impact indicators

Abstract

The web-based microblogging system Twitter is a very popular altmetrics source for measuring the broader impact of science. In this case study, we demonstrate how problematic the use of Twitter data for research evaluation can be, even though the aspiration of measurement is degraded from impact to attention measurement. We collected the Twitter data for the paper published by Yamamizu et al. (2017). An investigative committee found that the main figures in the paper are fraudulent.