A leading pharmacologist in Italy accused of embezzling research funds is now the subject of coordinated editorial action by one of the field’s professional societies.
The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics announced expressions of concern for 12 papers, corrections for two and a retraction in an editorial published April 3 in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and Molecular Pharmacology. Salvatore Cuzzocrea, a pharmacology professor at the University of Messina, was a coauthor or corresponding author on all the papers. As we reported previously, Cuzzocrea is being investigated in Italy for allegedly embezzling more than 2 million euros in research reimbursements and allegedly rigging university contracts.
Since our reporting on Cuzzocrea a year ago, journals have retracted five more of his papers. One, from BMC Neuroscience, was retracted 10 days after our reporting for containing data that appeared in an earlier publication. A different paper was retracted last year from Biology for containing overlapping images, another from Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy for image overlaps, and the International Journal of Molecular Science retracted two more this year for containing duplications and “inappropriate editing” of micrographs.
The latest action from ASPET brings Cuzzocrea’s total to 25 retractions, per our database. The announcement follows an independent analysis by the ethics editor of the society, who found duplicated and altered western blots, poor image quality, and datasets without enough information on how they were collected and analyzed.
Cuzzocrea has not responded to our requests for comment.
The retraction was of a 2010 paper, published in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, for containing western blot data that were reused a year later in the now retracted paper in BMC Neuroscience. The retraction notice states the duplication wasn’t disclosed, and the authors couldn’t explain why it had happened. Cuzzocrea is the corresponding author on both papers.
In several of the cases flagged by ASPET, the authors said they could no longer retrieve the original data because of the time passed since publication; the papers in question were published between 2002 and 2022. Many of these articles fall outside of ASPET’s and the Committee on Publications Ethics’ guidelines for data retention, the editorial stated, but nevertheless the editors wrote that image integrity concerns “require satisfactory explanation and resolution regardless of their date of publication.”
Cuzzocrea acknowledged that all the data flagged for image integrity issues had originated in his lab, according to ASPET’s editorial, and the ASPET editors wrote that he and his coauthors had “ample opportunity” to supply original data and explanations for the discrepancies but were unable to address the concerns.
A spokesperson for the University of Messina told us, “Within the Italian system, universities are not generally responsible for assessing the scientific publications of their academic staff, except for matters that fall within their institutional remit and in compliance with the applicable regulations.”
When we spoke to Cuzzocrea last year about previous retractions, he told us retracted papers were a small fraction of his overall publication record. Finding errors and duplications made by other members of his lab was harder 20 years ago, without the help of artificial intelligence, he added.
The new corrections, issued to two papers in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, involved a labelling error and an overexposed western blot. The 12 expressions of concern were given to “alert readers to the specific image issues,” which also include problematic western blots and photomicrographs.
“These editorial decisions are required to correct the scientific record, irrespective of the relative impact of the identified image issues on the authors’ conclusions contained in these individual articles,” the editors wrote.
Cuzzocrea remains a professor at the University of Messina. He is facing criminal trial for allegedly awarding university contracts without having a bidding process. According to reports, authorities have seized more than 2.5 million euros, about US$2.9 million, of his assets and allege he misused research funds between 2019 and 2023. Italian media reported that Cuzzocrea had used the research funds for personal travel and expanding his equestrian facility — spending the money on breeding horses and building stables, according to a 700-page court document.
Despite the ongoing investigations, he still remains active in the academic community. Portuguese news reports he is a candidate to lead the University of Porto. That university did not respond to our request for comment. Back in Italy, he has reportedly requested a transfer to other universities and a sabbatical year from the University of Messina.
Like Retraction Watch? You can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work, follow us on X or Bluesky, like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, add us to your RSS reader, or subscribe to our daily digest. If you find a retraction that’s not in our database, you can let us know here. For comments or feedback, email us at [email protected].
Four days ago, Cuzzocrea earned his 26th retraction:
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/8/3545