By Selwyn Duke

It’s just a paper about the hand. It bears the not-very-titillating title “Biomechanical characteristics of hand coordination in grasping activities of daily living.” But now its authors could use a helping hand after receiving the back of someone else’s.

Written by three researchers from China’s Huazhong University and one from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, the paper was published January 5 in the PLOS ONE journal. And what was its supposed trespass?

It referenced the Creator numerous times.

This created intense controversy, with some scientists and even PLOS ONE editors calling for a retraction and other scientists threatening a boycott. And the journal did ultimately print a retraction on March 4, apologizing to readers for the “inappropriate language.” 

Read the rest here.