Emory cardiology researcher up to six retractions

R. Wayne Alexander, via Emory
R. Wayne Alexander, via Emory

R. Wayne Alexander, a cardiology researcher at Emory whose lab has retracted four papers following university investigations, has notched retractions five and six.

Here’s the notice from Circulation Research: Continue reading Emory cardiology researcher up to six retractions

Doing the right thing: Yale psychology lab retracts monkey papers for inaccurate coding

developmental scienceIn the midst of the holiday season, it’s a pleasure to be able to share the story of a scientist doing the right thing at significant professional cost — especially a researcher in psychology, a field that has been battered lately by scandal.

Sometime after publishing two papers — one in Developmental Science and another in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology — Yale’s Laurie Santos and her students realized there were problems with their data. We’ll let Santos — who made sure to respond to our request for comment immediately, in the midst of holiday travel, so that we had all the details and could help get the word out — tell the story: Continue reading Doing the right thing: Yale psychology lab retracts monkey papers for inaccurate coding

Former Iowa State researcher faked HIV vaccine findings: ORI

ori logoA former researcher at Iowa State University (ISU) faked results of experiments to make tests of a vaccine against HIV in animals look more powerful, according to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI).

Specifically, ORI and ISU found that Dong-Pyou Han Continue reading Former Iowa State researcher faked HIV vaccine findings: ORI

Danish commitee finds Klarlund Pedersen, Penkowa guilty of scientific dishonesty

Klarlund Pedersen
Klarlund Pedersen

Two researchers in Denmark are guilty of scientific dishonesty, the Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty (DCSD, Danish acronym UVVU) has concluded.

In July, the DCSD said in a draft report that Bente Klarlund Pedersen had acted in a “scientifically dishonest” and “grossly negligent” manner. She — and many of her defenders — responded by saying that while she had made mistakes, she had not committed misconduct. Here’s a key quote from a letter her attorney wrote to the committee: Continue reading Danish commitee finds Klarlund Pedersen, Penkowa guilty of scientific dishonesty

Ulrich Lichtenthaler notches retraction 13

acad manageUlrich Lichtenthaler, the management professor who has had a dozen papers retracted, has lost another.

Here’s the notice from the Academy of Management Journal for “Absorptive Capacity, Environmental Turbulence, and the Complementarity of Organizational Learning Processes:” Continue reading Ulrich Lichtenthaler notches retraction 13

Failure to reproduce result leads to disputed retraction

BJ_logoA research group in Scotland has retracted a paper in the Biochemical Journal after failed attempts to reproduce a key finding of the study.

Here’s the notice: Continue reading Failure to reproduce result leads to disputed retraction

Cancer biology group notches sixth retraction, and earns an Expression of Concern

bjcA group at the University of Texas Southwestern that retracted five papers last year has retracted one more, and has had a paper subjected to an Expression of Concern at the request of the school’s dean.

Here’s the retraction notice for “DNA methylation-associated inactivation of TGFβ-related genes, DRM/Gremlin, RUNX3, and HPP1 in human cancers,” originally published in the British Journal of Cancer and cited 51 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge:
Continue reading Cancer biology group notches sixth retraction, and earns an Expression of Concern

Does science need a retraction “shame list?”

accountabilityA pair of engineering researchers has analyzed the work of a handful of prolific scientific fraudsters, and has concluded that science needs a “shame list” to deter future misconduct.

The paper, “Analysis and Implications of Retraction Period and Coauthorship of Fraudulent Publications,” by Jong Yong Abdiel Foo and Xin Ji Alan Tan, of  Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore, appeared online last week in Accountability in Research: Policies and Quality Assurance.

The authors write that Continue reading Does science need a retraction “shame list?”