An article that suggested there is no benefit to being overweight among cancer survivors – the so-called “obesity paradox” – is being retracted for plagiarizing large sections from another paper that explored the same topic in cardiovascular disease.
The journal Cancer Causes & Control pulled the 2014 article last June after determining it contained “large portions” of text from another paper in Preventive Medicine by a different set of authors, which suggested that evidence linking obesity to health benefits in cardiovascular disease may stem from a form of selection bias.
Here’s more from the retraction note:
This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in Chief, as it contains large portions of text that have been duplicated from the article: ‘‘The obesity paradox: understanding the effect of obesity on mortality among individuals with cardiovascular disease’’; Banack HR, Kaufman JS; Preventive Medicine 2014 May; 62:96–102; DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2014. 02.003.
The article has been cited three times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.
We’ve tried to reach author Andrew G. Renehan, professor of Cancer Studies and Research at the University of Manchester Institute of Cancer Sciences, where he leads the Manchester Cancer Research Centre Diabesity and Cancer Research Group. We’ve also reached out the journal.
Renehan does not include the Banack and Kaufman paper in his list of references.
Hat tip: Piotr Anton
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You have to wonder why this person who has all sorts of accolades etc would stoop so far as to copy so much text.