Another retraction for Milena Penkowa, this one in Experimental Physiology

There’s another retraction in the the complicated case of Milena Penkowa, the former University of Copenhagen researcher being investigated for scientific misconduct and misuse of grant funds. The paper, in Experimental Physiology, was titled “Exercise-induced metallothionein expression in human skeletal muscle fibres” and was published online in January 2005.

It’s the second retraction for Penkowa, who did not sign either of them. According to the notice:

The following article from Experimental Physiology, ‘Exercise-induced metallothionein expression in human skeletal muscle fibres’ by Milena Penkowa, Pernille Keller, Charlotte Keller, Juan Hidalgo, Mercedes Giralt and Bente Klarlund Pedersen published in Experimental Physiology 90(4): 477–486, and online ahead of print on 7 January 2005, doi:10.1113/expphysiol.2004.029371 has been retracted by agreement between Pernille Keller, Charlotte Keller, Juan Hidalgo, Mercedes Giralt and Bente Klarlund Pedersen, the journal Editor in Chief, Paul McLoughlin, and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The retraction has been agreed because:
• Fig. 1, panel H, from ‘Immunohistochemical detection of interleukin-6 in human skeletal muscle fibers following exercise’ by Penkowa M, Keller C, Keller P, Jauffred S, Pedersen BK, FASEB Journal 17(14): 2166–2168 has been re-used as Fig. 3, panels D & F in the retracted article.

The paper, cited 16 times according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge, is one of three that journals issued an Expression of Concern about in May.

Another journal, the Journal of Physiology, has since retracted one of those papers, also citing duplication of a figure from another paper. That notice also said that a figure had been inappropriately manipulated, but said that the authors “assure you these errors were not intentional or of deceptive intent,” language that doesn’t appear in the current notice. One of Penkowa’s co-authors on both papers, Bente Klarlund Pedersen, has resigned from the editorial board of the Journal of Physiology.

Hat tip: William Harrison