Woozle Effect

The Woozle effect, also known as evidence by citation, occurs when a source is widely cited in support of a claim that the source does not actually adequately support, lending that claim an undeserved appearance of credibility. If the original result is never replicated, and no one notices that the key claim was never well supported in its first publication, the faulty assumption can go on to affect further research built on top of it. The effect resembles circular reporting in journalism, where a questionable claim is uncritically accepted and republished by one journalist and then repeated and duplicated by others and by the public, none of whom trace it back to its dubious and unreliable origin.