The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology has retracted a 2013 paper by a group from China after learning that only the first author knew about the article.
The paper was titled “Construction of circular miRNA sponges targeting miR-21 or miR-221 and demonstration of their excellent anticancer effects on malignant melanoma cells,” and it was led by Yuchen Liu. Liu’s affiliations include the Institute of Dermatology and Department of Dermatology at No. 1 Hospital, part of Anhui Medical University, and the State Key Laboratory Incubation Base of Dermatology for the Ministry of National Science and Technology.
Here’s the retraction notice:
This article has been retracted on the request of the Editor-in-Chief and the first author of the paper, because after publication, it became clear that the first author submitted the paper without the consent and knowledge of the corresponding author.
We felt that this action is against both the scientific ethic and the policy of IJBCB. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused the scientific community and readers of the journal.
The paper has yet to be cited, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.
I guess that first author ‘forgot’ to read the journal’s Guide for Authors:
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-international-journal-of-biochemistry-and-cell-biology/
“Submission declaration and verification
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except
in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic
preprint, see http://www.elsevier.com/postingpolicy), that it is not under consideration for publication
elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible
authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere
in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written
consent of the copyright-holder”.
The retraction notice, however, is followed by:
Citing papers
Competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs): New entrants to the intricacies of gene regulation
2014 Frontiers in Genetics
Kartha R.V., Subramanian S.
Detecting and characterizing circular RNAs
2014 Nature Biotechnology
Jeck W.R., Sharpless N.E.