“Blameworthy inaccuracies:” Dirk Smeesters up to six retractions

smeestersDirk Smeesters, the former Erasmus University psychology researcher found to have committed misconduct, is up to half a dozen retractions.

Both notices, in the Journal of Consumer Research, where Smeesters has already had one retraction, are paywalled. Here’s one, for a paper cited seven times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge: Continue reading “Blameworthy inaccuracies:” Dirk Smeesters up to six retractions

Seventh retraction appears for author who tampered with investigation

bioorganicsKarel Bezouška, who tried tampering with an investigation into his work by breaking into a lab refrigerator, has had a seventh paper retracted.

Here’s the notice for “Carboxylated calixarenes bind strongly to CD69 and protect CD69+ killer cells from suicidal cell death induced by tumor cell surface ligands,” which was first published in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry in 2010: Continue reading Seventh retraction appears for author who tampered with investigation

“I never manipulated data”: Förster defends actions in open letter

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Jens Förster

Jens Förster, the Dutch social psychologist accused of misconduct, has posted an open letter on his lab’s website in which he denies wrongdoing.

The letter, in English and dated May 11, offers a detailed rebuttal to the investigation’s conclusions. It also offers a rationale for Förster’s decision not to post his data on the Internet. And it’s followed by a briefer letter from Nira Liberman, who identifies herself as a collaborator of Förster’s.

We present the letter in full below:

Continue reading “I never manipulated data”: Förster defends actions in open letter

Shigeaki Kato up to 25 retractions

Shigeaki Kato
Shigeaki Kato

Shigeaki Kato, who resigned from the University of Tokyo in 2012 after being found to have inappropriately manipulated dozens of images, has two more retractions, both in Molecular Cell.

Here’s the notice for 2002’s “Nuclear Receptor Function Requires a TFTC-Type Histone Acetyl Transferase Complex:” Continue reading Shigeaki Kato up to 25 retractions

More retractions for researcher who says he will no longer publish

diabetescoverWe’ve been alerted to two more retractions of articles by University of Calgary researcher Cory Toth, both in the journal Diabetes, for image doctoring.

One paper, from 2008, was titled “Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGEs) and Experimental Diabetic Neuropathy.” It has been cited 93 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge. The notice states: Continue reading More retractions for researcher who says he will no longer publish

Förster report cites “unavoidable” conclusion of data manipulation

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Jens Förster

Last week we wrote about the 2012 complaint that triggered the investigation into Jens Förster, the social psychologist at the University of Amsterdam whose work has come under scrutiny for possible fraud.

Now we have the findings of the official investigation by Landelijk Orgaan Wetenschappelijke Integriteit (the Dutch National Board for Scientific Integrity, often referred to as LOWI) — which clearly indicates that the institution believes Förster made up results.

Here are some of the highlights from the document, which we’ve had translated by a Dutch speaker:

Continue reading Förster report cites “unavoidable” conclusion of data manipulation

New Frontiers: Marc Hauser back publishing in scientific literature

frontiers psychMarc Hauser, the psychology researcher who resigned from Harvard and was found by the Office of Research Integrity to have committed misconduct, has published two new papers.

Both papers appear in Frontiers in Psychology, the journal whose retraction of a controversial paper on conspiracy ideation and climate skepticism was, by the editors’ own admission, handled badly.

Here’s the abstract to “The mystery of language evolution:”

Continue reading New Frontiers: Marc Hauser back publishing in scientific literature

Did article on doped indium contain a doped image?

asscoverApplied Surface Science has retracted a 2010 paper by a group of researchers from India and Brazil because one of the figures in the article was suspect.

The paper was titled “Effect of hydrogenation vs. re-heating on intrinsic magnetization of Co doped In2O3.”

Continue reading Did article on doped indium contain a doped image?

Retractions 3 and 4 appear for researcher facing criminal probe; OSU co-author won’t face inquiry

dna cell biology 2Alfredo Fusco, a cancer researcher in Italy who is facing a criminal investigation for fraud, has had two more papers retracted.

Continue reading Retractions 3 and 4 appear for researcher facing criminal probe; OSU co-author won’t face inquiry

Weekend reads: Retraction Watch on NPR; “hysteria” over replication; when a paywall might be a good thing

booksIt’s been another busy week at Retraction Watch, mostly because of the unfolding Jens Förster story. Here’s what was happening elsewhere on the web: Continue reading Weekend reads: Retraction Watch on NPR; “hysteria” over replication; when a paywall might be a good thing