Toxicologic Pathology – a Sage title – has issued expressions of concern for six papers that were among the subjects of an investigation by Azabu University that concluded in November 2022.
The expression of concern, dated March 7, 2024, includes a list of the six articles and reads:
Toxicologic Pathology was contacted by the author, Shin Wakui, requesting retraction of these articles. Despite multiple attempts at gaining further information on the reasons for retraction, we have not received anymore communication regarding this case.
This expression of concern will remain in place until further evidence is provided to Sage.
The university issued a report about the misconduct findings in November 2022, which Lemonstoism, author of World Fluctuation Watch, sent us at the time and which we forwarded to Sage once we saw the expressions of concern. The university investigated 31 papers, of which at least two have been retracted.
The authors did not share that report when they contacted the journal in November 2023, a Sage spokesperson told Retraction Watch. “At this point it’s too soon to say how the report might impact any future action with the article,” Sage told us.
Wakui’s Azabu email address bounced, and we were unable to find other contact information for him.
Here are the six papers:
- Wakui S, Takahashi H, Mutou T, et al. Atypical Leydig Cell Hyperplasia in Adult Rats with Low T and High LH Induced by Prenatal Di(n-butyl) Phthalate Exposure. Toxicologic Pathology. 2013;41(3):480-486.
- Shirai M, Wakui S, Wempe MF, et al. Male Sprague-Dawley Rats Exposed to In Utero Di(n-butyl) Phthalate: Dose Dependent and Age-related Morphological Changes in Leydig Cell Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum. Toxicologic Pathology. 2013;41(7):984-991.
- Wakui S, Shirai M, Motohashi M, et al. Effects of in Utero Exposure to Di(n-butyl) Phthalate for Estrogen Receptors α, β, and Androgen Receptor of Leydig Cell on Rats. Toxicologic Pathology. 2014;42(5):877-887.
- Motohashi M, Wakui S, Takahashi H, et al. Adenocarcinoma of the Ampullary Glands of the Ductus Deferens in a Sprague-Dawley Rat. Toxicologic Pathology. 2015;43(4):593-599.
- Okayama Y, Wakui S, Wempe MF, et al. In Utero Exposure to Di(n-butyl)phthalate Induces Morphological and Biochemical Changes in Rats Postpuberty. Toxicologic Pathology. 2017;45(4):526-535.
- Wakui S, Takahashi H, Muto T. In Utero Exposure to 3,3′,4,4′, 5-Pentachlorobiphenyl Dose-Dependently Induces N-butyl-4-(hydroxybutyl) Nitrosamine in Rats With Urinary Bladder Carcinoma. Toxicologic Pathology. 2022;50(3):366-380.
Collectively, the papers have been cited just shy of 100 times, with just a handful of those citations coming after the university report was published in 2022.
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Institutions should be reporting this information to the journals that are affected. Don’t trust the authors to do it! Journals are being asked to manage research integrity with their hands tied behind their back – institutions need to step up !