The researchers disagree with the journal’s decision and stand by their data. It’s reasonable to pull a paper for major errors or suspected misconduct — but debates and disagreements over the findings are part of the scientific process, said study co-author Ariel Anbar of Arizona State University.
“One doesn’t retract a paper because the interpretation is controversial, or even because most disagree with the interpretation,” wrote Anbar in an email. “At least, that hasn’t been the case until now.”
Science has more frequently retracted papers for reasons beside fraud in recent years, wrote Thorp and Vada Vinson, Science’s executive editor, in a blog post.
NASA helped fund the original work. The space agency’s science mission chief Nicky Fox said in a statement that NASA does not support the retraction and encourages Science to reconsider.
