A study published in Glia is being retracted following a university investigation that found “incorrect and, therefore, misleading” results in a number of figures.
Here’s the notice for “Jagged1 regulates the activation of astrocytes via modulation of NFκB and JAK/STAT/SOCS pathways” by Eleonora Morga, Laila Mouad-Amazzal, Paul Felten, Tony Heurtaux, Mike Moro, Alessandro Michelucci, Sebastien Gabel, Luc Grandbarbe, and Paul Heuschling:
The above article from Glia, published online on May 19, 2009 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/glia.20887, has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editors-in-Chief, and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed due to discovery that some of the results in Figures 1C, 4A, 4C, 5A, 5C and 7A-D were incorrect and, therefore, misleading. This was subsequently confirmed by an external investigation panel invited by the University of Luxembourg. The first author, E. Morga, takes full responsibility for the retraction and the reasons for it. All authors agreed to formally retract the article and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this might cause Glia’s readers.
The paper has been cited 16 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.
We’ve tried to reach Morga, Heuschling, and the editors of the journal for more details, and will update with anything we learn.
Update, 8 a.m. Eastern, 1/2/14: Heuschling tells us:
Some of the co-authors, members of my group, expressed their doubts concerning some of the published results. The problem was submitted to the university’s Ethics committee. The Ethics committee started an inquiry, which was followed by an external investigation. Dr Morga was supportive throughout the whole procedure. She does no longer work at the university.