Citation

Byard RW, Musgrave IF. Forensic Sci. Med. Pathol. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s12024-021-00357-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) is a coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). First identified in China in December 2019 it has subsequently been responsible for a pandemic. The rapid spread of the disease with associated morbidity and mortality has had disastrous effects globally. While vaccines and treatment protocols are currently being trialed, the impact on forensic services in certain countries has been profound, requiring the implementation of strict autopsy protocols and guidelines [1].

Another of the dramatic effects of the pandemic has been the proliferation of COVID-related publications, with an estimated 31,360 papers listed on Pubmed to July 2020 [2]. The leading publishing countries were the United States (5,033), China (3,511) and Italy (2,590) with the most popular journals being the British Medical Journal (574), the Journal of Medical Virology (317) and The Lancet (230) [2]. Disturbingly, along with the plethora of publications, referred to as a "paperdemic", there have been a significant number of retracted articles with suggestions of academic mistakes, fraud and dishonesty in the rush to achieve publication status [2, 3]. The need for academic integrity and evidence-based research remains paramount...

Language: en