A researcher in India has asked a journal to amend a retraction “for major errors in data” because, he says, the data weren’t wrong – they were stolen.
The October 2023 paper, “Prediction of Weaning Outcome from Mechanical Ventilation Using Ultrasound Assessment of Parasternal Intercostal Muscle Thickness,” was originally published in the Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine (IJCCM). The journal is published by JP Medical, and is indexed in Clarviate’s Web of Science.
The undated retraction statement says the authors “wish to withdraw the article . . . due to major errors in data.” The DOI no longer links to the article, and the full text is no longer available online.
In a letter to the editor published Nov. 30, 2024 in IJCCM, researcher Sundara Kannan alleged the authors stole his data.
Kannan, a junior consultant at Kovai Medical Center and Hospital in Tamil Nadu, said the authors of the retracted paper plagiarized his post-graduate 2022 thesis, “Role of Parasternal Intercostal Muscle Ultrasound during Weaning from Mechanical Ventilation and Prediction of Extubation Success in ICU—A Prospective Observational Study.”
In the editorial, Kannan said the IJCCM study contained the “exact same data of the thesis including demographic characters, baseline data, and the primary and secondary objectives.” He noted his study findings were presented at the EuroAsia 2022 conference and that he had registered with the Clinical Trial Registry of India, as well as obtained clearance from the Institutional Ethics committee. The thesis was submitted electronically to the India Society for Critical Care Medicine (ISCCM), which examined the abstracts submitted to EuroAsia 2022 “anonymously,” according to the event website.
IJCCM is associated with the ISCCM, according to the organization’s website.
Arjun Ramaswamy, an associate consultant with Apollo Hospital Enterprises in Mumbai, was lead author of the now-retracted study. Ramaswamy’s employer profile page claims he won the “Best First Paper Award 2023” at IJCCM for the article. He also has ties to Kovai Medical Center, where Kannan is currently employed, and has not responded to our request for comment.
Kannan and his team came across the study in May 2024 and confronted the corresponding author, Nitesh Gupta, “with evidence of data theft/plagiarism, after which they decided to withdraw the manuscript,” Kannan wrote in his letter. He did not respond to our request for comment.
Gupta, an associate professor at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College & Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, did not respond to our request for comment.
Kannan’s letter to the editor said the authors “demand the retraction of the article citing the proper reason,” claiming they were in the process of submitting the data for publication at another journal. “If we publish our findings, which include more secondary objectives and analysis, that should be considered the original data and can be used anywhere for publication by the original authors,” he wrote.
But the published paper, which has been cited five times, according to Clarivate’s Web of Science, had received criticism before. In March 2024, a different letter to the editor raised “certain points for further clarification of their reported observation,” questioning whether COVID-19 patients were included, among other critiques.
Ramaswamy and his co-authors responded to the editorial in April 2024: “We appreciate their engagement with our study and welcome further discussion,” the response reads.
When asked why the journal decided to publish the letter but not update the retraction notice, Prashant Kaushik, managing editor of IJCCM, told us he was “looking into this and will keep you posted” but did not respond to our repeated follow-up attempts.
Atul Kulkarni, a professor and critical care division head at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai and editor-in-chief of the journal, did not respond to our request for comment. An article accompanying an interview he gave about the journal in November 2024 states IJCCM is “renowned for its rigorous peer review process and for publishing high-quality, impactful research.”
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Mind boggling. This level of blatant misconduct should lead to expulsion from academia, and loss of medical license.
Absolutely! Also by not acting immediately and failing to respond the Journal is leaving us to believe it’s publications are not to be trusted.
Many researchers are now depending on paper publication by stealing the work of other authors already published papers .
Have to strictly avoid these authors papers in any journals and to be checked before accepting the contents