Retraction Notice

Abstract

The editors of Communication Research, Drs. Gibbs and Knobloch-Westerwick, wish to issue a retraction of the article entitled ““Boom, Headshot!?”: Effect of Video Game Play and Controller Type on Firing Aim and Accuracy” by Jodi L. Whitaker and Brad J. Bushman.

This article was first published online on April 30, 2012 and in print in the October 2014 issue of Communication Research (issue 41, pp. 879-891) as doi:10.1177/0093650212446622. It should be noted that, to ensure impartiality, Dr. Knobloch-Westerwick was not involved in the preparation of this decision, because she is on the faculty at the same institution as the corresponding author. This retraction is in response to inquiries from Drs. Markey (Villanova U) and Elson (Ruhr U Bochum), in agreement with the corresponding author Dr. Bushman.

A Committee of Initial Inquiry at Ohio State University recommended retracting this article after being alerted to irregularities in some variables of the data set by Drs. Markey and Elson in January 2015. Unfortunately, the values of the questioned variables could not be confirmed because the original research records were unavailable. In 2016, Drs. Markey and Elson sent their report to Dr. Gibbs, one of the editors of Communication Research, who decided that a retraction was warranted. A replication of the study by Dr. Bushman is in review.