More sockpuppetry by prominent Yale prof/author/columnist David L. Katz MD [UPDATED: Goodreads scrubbed his self-review]
I co-authored this item with U.S. (Atlanta, GA) investigative reporter Peter M. Heimlich, who’s cross-posting it at his hard-hitting blog, The Sidebar.
Peter first contacted me a couple months ago after I reblogged his September 30 item about Dr. David Katz posting a shill five-star review on Amazon for his novel reVision. Since then, I’ve been keeping my (many) readers informed about further developments in Dr. Katz’s literary career.
I turned up the Goodreads review; Peter sent the inquiry. We’ll update if/when the company responds. (For clarity, Peter’s inquiry is slightly edited.)
Subject: blogger inquiry
To: Goodreads <support@goodreads.com>, <press@goodreads.com>
From: Peter Heimlich <peter.heimlich@gmail.com>
Cc: Dean Sterling Jones
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2015 16:36:25 -0500
Hi Goodreads Team,
1) Here’s a screenshot I just took from a Goodreads review page:
2) Per this screenshot I just took from his Facebook home page, you can see that the above David Katz is David L. Katz MD of Yale’s Griffin Hospital and that he’s hyping the book reVision:
3) Recent articles in the Yale Daily News, Retraction Watch, and IMediaEthics (please click the names to read those stories) reported that the Huffington Post deleted two columns by Dr. Katz in which he lavished praise upon reVision without informing readers that he wrote the novel and that Amazon.com deleted a five-star review for reVision which Dr. Katz posted on his Amazon user account without identifying himself as the author.
Here’s my question.
Is Dr. Katz’s Goodreads review of reVision in compliance with your review guidelines?
Update 16/12/15: Just hours after Peter Heimlich and I blogged our items, Goodreads.com scrubbed Dr. Katz’s self-review.
Here’s a recent screenshot taken of the web page:
Kudos to Peter, who deserves credit for doing most – if not all – of the work.
Shooting the Messenger 