Journals retracts three bone papers for duplication by same author

A journal is Journals are retracting three papers after a biomaterials researcher duplicated his own work, sometimes using the same figures to describe different experiments.

Two of the papers are on bone regeneration; one is about targeting tumors. In addition to issues with figures, two one of the retraction notes explain that the papers contain “widespread plagiarism of text” from other papers by the researcher, Hossein Hosseinkhani.

Hosseinkhani is currently affiliated with the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology; when he did the work in the now retracted papers, published in 2004 and 2007, he was based at Kyoto University Hospital and then National Institute for Materials Science in Japan.

The Journal of Controlled Release published all three two of the papers. Here’s the retraction note for “Bone regeneration through controlled release of bone morphogenetic protein-2 from 3-D tissue engineered nano-scaffold,” which has been cited 118 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.

This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor in Chief because of widespread plagiarism of text, notably from references [1] and [2].

In addition, Figure 1 was previously published as Figure 2b in reference [2], describing different experiments (BMP-2 and bFGF, respectively).

[1] Hosseinkhani H, Hosseinkhani M, Tian F, Kobayashi H, Tabata Y Ectopic bone formation in collagen sponge self-assembled peptide-amphiphile nanofibers hybrid scaffold in a perfusion culture bioreactor. [http://doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2006.05.050] Biomaterials 27 (2006) 5089–5098

[2] Hosseinkhani H, Hosseinkhani M, Khademhosseini A, Kobayashi H, Tabata Y Enhanced angiogenesis through controlled release of basic fibroblast growth factor from peptide amphiphile for tissue regeneration. [http://doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2006.08.003] Biomaterials 27 (2006) 5836–5844

“PEGylation enhances tumor targeting of plasmid DNA by an artificial cationized protein with repeated RGD sequences, Pronectin®” has been cited 32 times; here’s the retraction note:

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).

This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor in Chief because of concerns about several of the figures.

• In Figure 1, gels 1(C) and 1(D) are identical, and also identical to the gels in Figures 1(F) and 1(H) in reference [1].

• Figure 1(F) is identical to Figure 1(C) in reference [1].

• Figure 1(A) is identical to Figure 1(A) in reference [1].

• Figure 1(B) is identical to Figure 1(G) in reference [1].

Figures 6 (A), (B), (C) and (D) are identical to Figures 7 (A)(2), (B)(2), (B)(3) and (C)(3) in reference [2], and also identical to Figures 7 US(-)(3), US(+)(1), US(-)(4) and US(+)(4) in reference [3].

[1] Hosseinkhani H, Tabata Y In vitro gene expression by cationized derivatives of an artificial protein with repeated RGD sequences, Pronectin^®. [http://doi:10.1016/S0168-3659(02)00412-1] Journal of Controlled Release 86 (2003) 169–182

[2] Hosseinkhani H, Aoyama T, Ogawa O, Tabata Y Tumor targeting of gene expression through metal-coordinated conjugation with dextran. [http://doi:10.1016/S0168-3659(02)00425-X] Journal of Controlled Release 88 (2003) 297–312

[3] Hosseinkhani H, Kushibiki T, Matsumoto K, Nakamura T, Tabata Y Enhanced suppression of tumor growth using a combination of NK4 plasmid DNA-PEG engrafted cationized dextran complex and ultrasound irradiation. [http://doi:10.1038/sj.cgt.7700918] Cancer Gene Therapy 13 (2006) 479–489

“Bone regeneration on a collagen sponge self-assembled peptide-amphiphile nanofiber hybrid scaffold” was published in Tissue Engineering and has been cited 53 times; here’s the retraction note* (which is paywalled):

During an investigation for potential unethical conduct in their published work in other scientific journals, it was discovered that not all the coauthors of the above-named article participated in the research reported in the paper, nor did they approve the submission of the manuscript. As a result, the editorial leadership has decided to officially retract the article based on disreputable behavior.

Tissue Engineering is committed to the highest standards of scientific content and integrity, and does not tolerate such improprieties.

We’ve reached out to Hosseinkhani, and JCR.

Update 2/12/16 12:37 p.m. eastern: A commenter pointed out to us that a scientist with the same name as the second author on two of the papers (Mohsen Hosseinkhani) was accused in 2011 of breaking into a lab at his former employer, Mount Sinai Medical Center. He allegedly stole materials and sabotaged studies with lab animals by swapping their tags. He later fled the country to Iran, according to the New York Daily News.

Correction, 2/18/16 9:50 PM Eastern: We had originally pasted the retraction note for the first paper again under the third paper and neglected to list the journal that it was published in. This has now been fixed.

Hat tip: AnonyMouse

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