N - Geophysicists review colleagues' papers

Scientists at the Institute of Geophysics in Paris have been accused of reviewing papers by their colleagues at the institute. The papers were published from 1992 to 2008 in the Elsevier journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters while they were members of the editorial board, Nature reports. The scientists say that the editorial process is open and that the allegations are "ridiculous." The publisher maintains that reviewing papers from your own institution is unethical. One online response to the news story in Nature said, "This case exposes a general problem in French science: inbreeding, centralism, lack of transparency, and disregard for internationalism." (Nature 2009;457:140, doi:10.1038/457140a)
Thanks to Margaret Cooter