Journal publishers can be agonizingly slow when it comes to officially retracting a paper.
Here’s a prime example of the consequences of that bureaucratic foot-dragging: Ten months after being told that Fazlurrahman Khan had fabricated his data, and two months after announcing two of Khan’s papers would be retracted from two of its journals, Elsevier still has not retracted either paper.
Worse, at least one of the papers, “Degradation of 2,4-dinitroanisole (DNAN) by metabolic cooperative activity of Pseudomonas sp. strain FK357 and Rhodococcus imtechensis strain RKJ300,” in the journal Chemosphere, has been cited since the announcement was made. In fact, the paper was published in Journal of Hazardous Materials, the Elsevier journal that is dragging its feet retracting another of Khan’s papers, “Aerobic degradation of 4-nitroaniline (4-NA) via novel degradation intermediates by Rhodococcus sp. strain FK48.”
Jim Spain, in whose lab Khan worked at Georgia Tech, reached out to us to express his concerns with this timeline:
Retraction Watch indicated that a substantial number of papers are being retracted. It looks like the PLoS papers have been retracted but some of the others have not- in spite of the retraction requests from the corresponding author that seem to have been submitted between January and June of 2014. The authors seem to have been clear that the data were fabricated and I can’t imagine why the journals would leave the papers in the literature for months while they are being cited and misleading the readers.
Spain also provided us with some insider knowledge about where Khan’s ideas came from: His own lab.
Khan worked in my lab at Georgia Institute of Technology for several months early in 2012 until I strongly suspected he was fabricating data. He went back to India, where he copied ongoing projects from my lab for several of his fabricated papers. One was a chapter of my graduate student’s thesis, one was a project he worked on here, and a third (m-Tyrosine paper in PLOS ONE) was based on my proposals/annual reports/poster and lab seminars he saw while he was here. He did not fabricate the ideas, the overall results or the conclusions–he got them from my lab. He only fabricated the data. He signed a non-disclosure agreement when he came here.
Since Khan resigned from IMTECH, the institution in Chandigarh, India, where he was working when the retractions were made public, we haven’t been able to track him down. We’ve reached out to both a frequent co-author and the director of IMTECH looking for more information, as well as a way to reach Khan for comment.
We’ve also contacted Elsevier, the author of the recently published paper in Journal of Hazardous Materials, and the editors of Chemosphere and Journal of Hazardous Materials, and will update with any news.
Update, 10 a.m. Eastern, 7/23/16: One of Khan’s co-authors, Swaranjit Singh, has been dismissed from Imtech.
I believe the solution is quite simple, and who holds responsibility is more than clear. Elsevier, please issue an immediate Erratum, with the following wording (non-lawyer doctored): “The publisher, Elsevier, wishes to indicate that reference X refers to a now retracted paper from journal Y. This was included because of [reason Z]. Elsevier wishes to apologize to the authors, to the readership of this journal, and to the scientific community for its error.” Surely, this could be the most neutral type of “erratum” notice possible? Surely, COPE would approve of such wording that assigns correct responsibility to the correct entity?
Mutatis mutandis this item, I suppose. I’m not seeing a history, but Das et al. (2008) and Dudley et al. (2009) had been retracted well before press time. It hardly sinks the review, but all the same.
In such cases it seems that the publishers should be held accountable for misleading and deceptive conduct/advertising, and fined, say $1,000 per journal (punitive damages are a settled principle of common law in the USA) or up to $ 10,000,000 in Australia.
Legal action is the only language that publishers understand.
These are, basically, mutually exclusive categories. U.S. government agencies, which levy fines, cannot collect punitive damages per se.
Now, the main issue is we are hearing news from only one side, but I believe we must know it from Dr. Cameotra’s point of view as there is not any kind of news at his end.
There was a lot of negative publicity in July 2014 in many many newspapers of CSIR, India. Why the comments of Dr. Jim Spain of Georgia Tech are not publicized about Fazlurrahman Khan, first author who had fabricated the data by the same set of officials/people/websites?
I find that four papers by Khan et al have been retracted: three in PloS One and the fourth in Chemosphere. Quoting The Hindu, Chennai, it has been said that three more papers are under retraction. What is the latest?
I wish to ask Elsevier and Thomson Reuters to please come forward to answer publically to the following questions, based on two e-mails (one referring to me as “Dear author”, which I am clearly not) which I received in October and November, 2014. These mails affect me because somehow my papers are listed in them. These answers might also shed some light about the issue of fake reviewers on online submission systems.
1) Can intermediate brokerage services like this get papers listed more easily on Scopus or WoS, for a fee?
2) Conversely, do those who cannot pay, have to wait longer for their papers to get listed?
3) Can this business model, which claims to handle all communications, be one source of the problems associated with online submission systems [1]? More specifically, are individuals who work for such intermediate companies allowed to set up fake accounts and handle all submissions for their paying clients? If so, how is this permissible, or ethical? In such cases, so they use their own names, is an alias used, or do the authors permit a “ghost” entity from using their professional names and identities?
4) Why does this service claim to guarantee acceptance in any journal of choice, using the impact factor as a trading point? “The next day, all the magazines give us the answer.” How does this agency guarantee acceptance in a Scopus-listed or WoS-listed journal?
5) Does this company have inside contacts at Elsevier and Thomson Reuters that may be giving their clients an unfair advantage over other scientists?
6) Why do these services guarantee simultaneous submission to multiple (as many as 10 journals) for a fee? This is extremely unethical for any scientist to make a double submission, so why is it ethical for an exorbitant fee?
7) Given the fact that Elsevier is clearly aware of these services and businesses (see mail by Caroline Timmins, Elsevier Customer Service), would it be fair to request them to publically address this issue at Retraction Watch?
[1] http://retractionwatch.com/2014/11/26/the-peer-review-scam-how-authors-are-reviewing-their-own-papers/
I should note that the last time I asked questions from Thomson Reuters publically [2], not a single response was provided, even though the queries were directed, among other contacts, straight to the Manager of JCR. Given the lack of transparency displayed by that corporation, I am not expecting miracles here, either.
[2] Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva (2013) The Thomson Reuters Impact Factor: Critical Questions that Scientists Should be Asking. Asian and Australasian Journal of lant Science and Biotechnlogy 7(special issue 1), 81-83
http://www.globalsciencebooks.info/JournalsSup/images/2013/AAJPSB_7(SI1)/AAJPSB_7(SI1)81-83o.pdf
First, the text from their website obtained through translate.google.com.:
Prices for services:
1. Search the magazine (from Russia WAC) on your specialty, which will publish an article * – 2250 rubles ($ 50, 650 USD.)
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4.1. Very hot (1-2 weeks) – $ 250 (11,250 rubles, 3250 UAH).
4.2. Urgent (up to 1 month) – $ 200 (9,000 rubles 2600 UAH).
4.3. 2 months – $ 150 (6,750 rubles, 1950 UAH).
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4.5. 4-6 months – $ 80 (3,600 rubles, 1000 UAH).
5. Publication of the article in the countries of Europe and America -Scopus (Scopus), Web of science (Thomson Reuters), or any other magazine:
5.1. Very hot (2-4 months) – $ 1,000 (45,000 rubles, 13,000 USD.)
5.2. 5-6 months – $ 800 (36,000 rubles, 10,400 USD.)
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1. You grant us your article.
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*** Package for all foreign publications Scopus (Scopus), Web of science (Thomson Reuters) include (all-inclusive, everything we do):
1. We are within 1 week for urgent publications, select magazines, which will be released within a specified period with you. For non-urgent journal publications selected for 1-2 weeks.
2. We will make out an article in accordance with the requirements of the magazine, brings in all the wishes of the journal article, we prepare all the necessary documents themselves. You do not do anything (you relax, do their own thing).
3. We pass an article in a magazine (magazines) for review. Reviewing takes from 2 weeks to 2 months.
4. We get comments on the article and fix them within 3-14 days.
5. We pass an amended and preparation of papers for publication in the journal.
6. We get a log and send it to the address immediately after the release of the printing press.
IMPORTANT:
– Please note that the registration of the article takes 3-7 days (sometimes up to 14 days), review articles will be about 1 month (sometimes up to 2 months).
– Keep in mind that your article translated into English takes up to 7 days. Do not let the paper to transfer the people with whom you have never worked. Very often, the bad and the quality of the translation has to read the article.
– Our editor makes out an article on the requirements of the magazine; our PhD makes all changes to the article and agree with the author. If the author wishes to make corrections to your own article, we do not mind. The main thing that such corrections were made up to 7 days.
On Monday, November 10, 2014 7:40 AM, “[email protected]” wrote:
1. TEIXEIRA DA SILVA J.A. THE APPLICATION OF BIOTECHNOLOGY TO ORCHIDS // CRITICAL REVIEWS IN PLANT SCIENCES Издательство: CRC PressISSN: 0735-2689. – 2013. – №2. – С. 69-139
Уважаемый автор.
Dear author.
Вы публиковали свою научную статью через один из журналов, который является нашим партнером.
You published a scientific article in one of the journals that is our partner.
Мы будем 2 раза в месяц информировать Вас о всех изменениях и новостях относительно публикации научных статей в России, Украине, Scopus, Web of science (Thomson Reuters) и др.
We will be informing you of any changes and news regarding the publication of scientific articles in Russia, Ukraine, Scopus, Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), and others twice a month.
Также мы предлагаем помощь по публикации статей авторов из России, Украины и стран СНГ. Текущие предложения:
We also offer assistance in the publication of articles by authors from Rus! sia, Ukraine and CIS countries. Current offers:
1. Сентябрь-ноябрь 2015 г. Публикации в журнале из базы Scopus (Скопус), Web of science (Thomson Reuters). 400 дол.
1. September-November 2015: publication in a journal from Scopus or Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) databases.
2. Июнь-август 2015 г. Публикации в журнале из базы Scopus (Скопус), Web of science (Thomson Reuters). 600 дол.
2. June-August 2015: publication in a journal from Scopus or Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) databases.
3. Публикация статьи в журнале из списка ВАК России в ноябре-декабре 2014 г. 500 дол.
3. Publication of an article in a journal from list of Higher Attestation Commission of Russia in November-December 2014
4. Публикация статьи в журнале из списка ВАК Украины в ноябре-декабре 2014 г. Для всех стран (кроме Украины) такая публикация считается зарубежной. 150 дол.
4. Publication of an article in a journal from list of Higher Attestation Commiss! ion of Ukraine in November-December 2014. Such publication is ! considered to be foreign for all countries (except Ukraine).
5. Срочная публикация статьи в начале 2015 года (февраль-март) в журнале из базы Scopus (Скопус), Web of science (Thomson Reuters). 1000 дол.
5. Urgent publication of an article in early 2015 (February-March) in a journal from Scopus or Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) databases.
6. Срочная и сверх срочная публикация статьи в срок 14-30 дней в России или Украине.
6. Urgent and extra urgent publication of an article in a period of 14-30 days in Russia or Ukraine.
* Подать статью для публикации за рубежом нужно с 28 октября по 7 ноября 2014 г. (статья уже должна быть на английском языке). Обратите внимание, что оформление статьи занимает 3-7 дней, рецензирование статьи составит около 1 месяц.
* It is necessary to submit the article for publication abroad from October 28 to November 7, 2014 (article should already be in the English). Please note that the registration of the arti! cle takes 3-7 days, article review takes about 1 month.
** Учитывайте, что перевод Вашей статьи на английский язык занимает до 7 дней.
** Please note that translation of the article into English takes up to 7 days.
*** Наш редактор оформляет статью по требованиям журнала; наш кандидат наук вносит все правки в статью и согласовывает с автором статьи.
*** Our editor formats text to comply with journal guidelines; our PhD makes all changes to the article and submits it to the author for approval.
Полную информацию по публикациям и все цены Вы можете узнать у нас на сайте или позвонив (написав) нам.
Complete information on the publications and the prices you can find on our website or by calling (writing) to us.
Мы являемся экспертами в вопросах публикации научных статей.
We are experts in publication of scientific articles.
Если у Вас есть вопросы, мы всегда рады ответить на них.
If you have any questions, we ! are always happy to answer them.
С уважением, Алена
Sincerel! y, Alena
Консультант Международной редакции
Adviser International Editorial Board
+380 67 3055900
+380 63 3403300
+380 50 2440990
Skype: olena_romanova
http://www.philosophypublisher.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Вы получили это письмо, потому что предоставили журналу «CRITICAL REVIEWS IN PLANT SCIENCES Издательство: CRC PressISSN: 0735-2689» свой e-mail для информирования о текущем состоянии Вашей публикации (публикаций). Дата 11-04-2013 г.
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On Friday, October 3, 2014 9:55 PM, “[email protected]” wrote:
1. TEIXEIRA DA SILVA J.A. CHRYSANTHEMUM BIOTECHNOLOGY: QUO VADIS? // CRITICAL REVIEWS IN PLANT SCIENCES Издательство: CRC PressISSN: 0735-2689. – 2013. – №1. – С. 21-52
Уважаемый автор.
Вы публиковали свою научную статью через один из журналов, который является нашим партнером.
Мы будем 1 раз в неделю информировать Вас о всех изменениях и новостях в направлении публикации научных статей в России, Украине, Scopus, Web of science (Thomson Reuters) и др.
Scopus не остановил индексирование статей авторов из России.
Официальный ответ:
Reference: 140815-002059
Response Via Email (Caroline Timmins)
18/08/2014 08.14 AM
Dear Daria
Thank you for your update,
I can confirm that articles / journals published in scopus are not affected by the sanctions in Russia.
If there is anything else I can help with please let me know.
Kind Regards
Caroline Timmins
Elsevier Customer Service
©2014, Elsevier BV. All rights reserved.
[—001:002977:36399—]
Также мы предлагаем помощь по публикации статей авторов из России и стран СНГ. Текущие предложения:
1. Август-октябрь 2015 г. Публикации в журнале из базы Scopus (Скопус), Web of science (Thomson Reuters). 400 дол.
2. Март-май 2015 г. Публикации в журнале из базы Scopus (Скопус), Web of science (Thomson Reuters). 600 дол.
3. Публикация статьи в журнале из списка ВАК России в ноябре-декабре 2014 г. 400 дол.
4. Публикация статьи в журнале из списка ВАК Украины в ноябре-декабре 2014 г. Для всех стран (кроме Украины) такая публикация считается зарубежной. 100 дол.
5. Срочная публикация статьи в 2014 году в журнале из базы Scopus (Скопус), Web of science (Thomson Reuters). 1000 дол.
6. Срочная и сверх срочная публикация статьи в срок 14-30 дней в России или Украине.
* Подать статью для публикации за рубежом нужно с 25 сентября по 10 октября 2014 г.! (статья уже должна быть на английском языке). Обратите вниман! ие, что оформление статьи занимает 3-7 дней, рецензирование статьи составит около 1 месяц.
** Учитывайте, что перевод Вашей статьи на английский язык занимает до 7 дней.
*** Наш редактор оформляет статью по требованиям журнала; наш кандидат наук вносит все правки в статью и согласовывает с автором статьи.
Полную информацию по публикациям и все цены Вы можете узнать у нас на сайте или позвонив (написав) нам.
Мы являемся экспертами в вопросах публикации научных статей.
Если у Вас есть вопросы, мы всегда рады ответить на них.
Спасибо за то, что выбрали нас.
С уважением, Алена
Консультант Международной редакции
http://journal-global.com/
Тел.: +380 67 3055900
+380 63 3403300
+380 50 2440990
Skype: olena_romanova
E-mail: [email protected]
Вы получили это письмо, потому что предоставили журналу «CRITICAL REVIEWS IN PLANT SCIENCES Издательство: CRC PressISSN: 0735-2689» свой e-mail для информирования о текущем состоянии Вашей публикации (публикаций). Дата 14-02-2013 г.
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