Beleaguered plant scientist with 22 corrections avoids 3 more

Cell will not be issuing corrections for three papers co-authored by prominent plant biologist Olivier Voinnet, after readers on PubPeer raised questions about some of the images.  The news may be a welcome relief for Voinnet, based at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, who has recently issued 22 corrections and seven retractions. Ongoing questions about his work have also earned … Continue reading Beleaguered plant scientist with 22 corrections avoids 3 more

EMBO takes back Voinnet’s award, investigates other awardee who just lost a Nature Genetics paper

EMBO has taken back an award given to beleaguered plant biologist Olivier Voinnet in 2009, and is investigating a recent grantee who had a paper retracted from Nature Genetics yesterday. The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) “promotes excellence in the life sciences” in Europe, in part by awarding prizes to promising young scientists. Voinnet and Sonia Melo earned their awards by … Continue reading EMBO takes back Voinnet’s award, investigates other awardee who just lost a Nature Genetics paper

Voinnet retracts highly cited paper, bringing his total to 7

Olivier Voinnet, a well-known plant scientist at the ETH in Zurich, has notched his 7th retraction for a highly cited paper. The 2003 paper was pulled when “additional image manipulations” came to light after The Plant Journal issued a correction earlier this year. The retraction follows an investigation into — and then retraction of — several other papers co-authored by Voinnet. The … Continue reading Voinnet retracts highly cited paper, bringing his total to 7

EMBO investigation yields two more retractions and three corrections for Voinnet

An investigation into the work of Olivier Voinnet by The EMBO Journal has led to another two retractions and three more corrections for the high-profile plant scientist, now suspended from the CNRS for two years. According to the authors, Voinnet was responsible for some of the errors; all papers have been questioned on PubPeer. The EMBO J, … Continue reading EMBO investigation yields two more retractions and three corrections for Voinnet

Voinnet notches second retraction, two more corrections

Olivier Voinnet — a plant researcher who was recently suspended for two years from the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) after an investigation by ETH Zurich and CNRS found evidence of misconduct — has issued his second retraction and two more corrections. PNAS posted the retraction earlier this week for a 2006 article after an inspection … Continue reading Voinnet notches second retraction, two more corrections

Award-winning plant researcher correcting several papers critiqued on PubPeer

Olivier Voinnet, a researcher at ETH in Zurich and the winner of the 2013 Rössler Prize, is correcting a number of papers following critiques of more than a dozen of his studies on PubPeer. The work appears in journals including Cell and PNAS. Voinnet’s co-author on several of the papers, David Baulcombe, who is also … Continue reading Award-winning plant researcher correcting several papers critiqued on PubPeer