A group of Italian researchers has retracted their 2013 paper on colorectal cancer because one of the authors, they, say, was tinkering with the data. The article, “PBOX-15 induces apoptosis and improves the efficacy of oxaliplatin in human colorectal cancer cell lines,” appeared in the European Journal of Pharmacology in August. The first author was … Continue reading Bogus Western blots lead to retraction of cancer paper
The Journal of Neuroscience has retracted a 2009 article by a group from Mount Sinai (now the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai) for suspicious Western blots. The paper, “Requirement for Protein Synthesis at Developing Synapses,” came from the lab of Deanna Benson, a Parkinson’s expert. According to the abstract, which is still available … Continue reading “Serious irregularities” in Western blots lead to retraction of brain chemistry paper
Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Journal retracts paper listed on authorship for sale site following Retraction Watch report How citation cartels give ‘strategic scholars’ an advantage: A simple model Kale ‘miracle food’ paper retracted for being ‘word salad’ After we … Continue reading Weekend reads: Dogs removed from controversial research facility; ‘an unacceptable idea’; ‘blind spots on western blots’
A researcher has retracted a paper from Diabetes after re-using some Western blots in one of the figures from other papers. According to the retraction notice, the first and corresponding author — Eric Berglund, formerly at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee — contacted the journal himself to report the error, for which he takes full responsibility. … Continue reading Author pulls Diabetes paper with duplicated Western blots
The title of this post is the headline of our latest column for LabTimes. It’s inspired by a number of animated discussions on Retraction Watch following our coverage of various Western blot problems — some unintentional, and some, well, less so. Take, for example, this comment, which we quote in the column:
The Journal of Biological Chemistry has retracted two papers by a group from the University of Toronto over what the leader of the research says were “misguided efforts” by a co-author to make the perfect Western blot. The retractions are among a batch of seven recent removals by the journal for image issues, some of … Continue reading Author says ‘misguided efforts for the ideal western blot led to the withdrawal of these studies’
The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has ruled in a case we’ve been following for nearly two years — and which seems to have been launched after Retraction Watch readers took a careful look at figures from what appeared to be an unrelated case. Takao Takahashi and Makato Suzuki, both former postdocs at a cancer … Continue reading Former UT-Southwestern cancer researchers faked data in 10 papers: ORI
Last week, we reported on the retraction of a paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) that had one of the journal’s typically inscrutable retraction notices.: This article has been withdrawn by the authors. Late last week, we heard back from corresponding author Takashi Tsuji by email. It turns out one of our commenters … Continue reading Tsuji explains why JBC paper was retracted: Western blot problems
A prominent Italian pharmacologist under investigation for embezzlement and rigging university contracts has garnered a dozen and a half retractions in the last year for image alterations and duplications. But Salvatore Cuzzocrea, the former rector of the University of Messina, told us he did not agree with the retractions because they were decided “without clear … Continue reading Former Italian university head faces retractions and criminal investigations
A high-profile Canadian urologist received an editorial expression of concern for one of his papers this month, after anonymous comments on PubPeer flagged suspected data duplication in dozens of his articles. By our count, sleuths have flagged 30 papers co-authored by Martin Gleave, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada and co-founder … Continue reading Journals investigating dozens of papers by leading Canadian urologists