Defamation Suit Demanding Elsevier Retract Paper Heads Closer To Trial (retractionwatch.com)
(Sunday August 23, 2026 @03:34AM (EditorDavid)
from the paper-trial dept.)
- Reference: 0185107554
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/08/23/0113210/defamation-suit-demanding-elsevier-retract-paper-heads-closer-to-trial
- Source link: https://retractionwatch.com/2026/08/21/defamation-lawsuit-elsevier-retraction-gps-air/
[1] Retraction Watch reports :
> A trial date has been set in a $1 billion defamation case against Elsevier that alleges the company published what plaintiffs say was a manipulated study about an air purifying technology over objections from peer reviewers. The case has already cost Elsevier a $10,000 sanction from a judge.
>
> Global Plasma Solutions (GPS), which makes air quality products, sued Elsevier in 2022 after the publisher declined to retract a [2]2021 paper in Building and Environment about GPS' needlepoint bipolar ionization technology, which it heavily marketed during the COVID-19 pandemic as an air purifier. The [3]complaint claims Elsevier is responsible for the authors' alleged omission of data and misleading conclusions in the paper that fueled "massive" financial losses for the company, its lawyers claim. Elsevier knew the paper "failed peer review" under its "own standards," but moved forward with the article despite this knowledge, according to GPS, which now goes by GPS Air.
>
> The complaint has survived a bid by Elsevier to dismiss the case, and a trial has been set for Dec. 7. In allowing the case to proceed, U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler said in a May [4]2024 opinion that GPS has "plausibly alleged actual malice" by Elsevier defined as "knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth." Chief Judge Martin Reidinger of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina [5]upheld Keesler's recommendation in July 2025...
>
> Citing internal and discovery documents, GPS alleges an assessment of 19 journals revealed Elsevier has published more than 1,200 articles either without any peer review, or against the recommendations of the reviewers.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [6]sandbagger for sharing the article.
[1] https://retractionwatch.com/2026/08/21/defamation-lawsuit-elsevier-retraction-gps-air/
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036013232100158X
[3] https://retractionwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/GPS_second_amended_complaint.pdf
[4] https://retractionwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/GPS_Motion_to_Dismiss_Recommendation.pdf
[5] https://retractionwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/GPS_Denying_Motion_to_Dismiss.pdf
[6] https://www.slashdot.org/~sandbagger
> A trial date has been set in a $1 billion defamation case against Elsevier that alleges the company published what plaintiffs say was a manipulated study about an air purifying technology over objections from peer reviewers. The case has already cost Elsevier a $10,000 sanction from a judge.
>
> Global Plasma Solutions (GPS), which makes air quality products, sued Elsevier in 2022 after the publisher declined to retract a [2]2021 paper in Building and Environment about GPS' needlepoint bipolar ionization technology, which it heavily marketed during the COVID-19 pandemic as an air purifier. The [3]complaint claims Elsevier is responsible for the authors' alleged omission of data and misleading conclusions in the paper that fueled "massive" financial losses for the company, its lawyers claim. Elsevier knew the paper "failed peer review" under its "own standards," but moved forward with the article despite this knowledge, according to GPS, which now goes by GPS Air.
>
> The complaint has survived a bid by Elsevier to dismiss the case, and a trial has been set for Dec. 7. In allowing the case to proceed, U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler said in a May [4]2024 opinion that GPS has "plausibly alleged actual malice" by Elsevier defined as "knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth." Chief Judge Martin Reidinger of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina [5]upheld Keesler's recommendation in July 2025...
>
> Citing internal and discovery documents, GPS alleges an assessment of 19 journals revealed Elsevier has published more than 1,200 articles either without any peer review, or against the recommendations of the reviewers.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [6]sandbagger for sharing the article.
[1] https://retractionwatch.com/2026/08/21/defamation-lawsuit-elsevier-retraction-gps-air/
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036013232100158X
[3] https://retractionwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/GPS_second_amended_complaint.pdf
[4] https://retractionwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/GPS_Motion_to_Dismiss_Recommendation.pdf
[5] https://retractionwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/GPS_Denying_Motion_to_Dismiss.pdf
[6] https://www.slashdot.org/~sandbagger
Elsevier (Score:1)
Elsevier is being sued?
The gatekeeper of knowledge from public institutions?
Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.
Re: (Score:2)
> Elsevier is being sued? The gatekeeper of knowledge from public institutions? Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.
Nods. Sadly, it's probably not enough to bankrupt them even if this company wins, but it's a good start.