About two weeks ago, we reported that Jatinder Ahluwalia — a scientist at the University of East London (UEL) who had been found guilty of scientific misconduct at University College London (UCL) — had been dismissed from the University of Cambridge’s graduate studies program for data fabrication. A dean at UEL told us later that week that the university was looking into the situation, and the lack of progress and communication from senior officials apparently has the faculty in an uproar. Continue reading Ahluwalia did not tell UCL he had been dismissed from Cambridge
Category: by author
Two more Bulfone-Paus retraction notices appear
The number of retraction notices of papers co-authored by Silvia Bulfone-Paus is up to eight.
The Journal of Leukocyte Biology, which was apparently the first to announce they had accepted a retraction, has published its notice: Continue reading Two more Bulfone-Paus retraction notices appear
Allergy journal clears studies linked to jailed U.K. researcher Erin
When the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine retracted four publications (two papers, two abstracts) by Edward Erin, who is now sitting in an English jail for having attempted to poison his mistress to induce an abortion, it appeared that the damage to the medical literature might be far worse. Erin’s name had appeared on many more publications, including five articles published in Clinical & Experimental Allergy (CEA) since 2002.
Prompted by an inquiry from Retraction Watch, CEA conducted an investigation into its Erin publications, reaching out to his co-authors. Today we received an e-mail from Andrew Wardlaw, editor of CEA, informing us of a letter that will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal: Continue reading Allergy journal clears studies linked to jailed U.K. researcher Erin
Exclusive: UEL staff “in uproar about lack of progress” investigating Jatinder Ahluwalia
On Friday, we reported that the University of East London (UEL) was looking into the career of Jatinder Ahluwalia, the UEL researcher who has left a trail of alleged scientific misconduct at Cambridge University and University College London.
Today, in another Retraction Watch exclusive, we have obtained a letter sent by a faculty member at UEL to department colleagues. It suggests that faculty there are very concerned about the toll these allegations may take on the university’s students and reputation, and are furious that senior officials have failed to keep them in the loop about any potential investigation.
Here’s the text of the letter: Continue reading Exclusive: UEL staff “in uproar about lack of progress” investigating Jatinder Ahluwalia
Bulfone-Paus retraction notice appears in the Journal of Biological Chemistry
Another retraction notice for a paper by Silvia Bulfone-Paus and colleagues has appeared, this one for a 2007 paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC), “Soluble IL-15Rα is generated by alternative splicing or proteolytic cleavage and forms functional complexes with Il-15.”
This is the sixth retraction notice of a promised 12 in several journals. The original paper has been cited 37 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.
Some of the notices have gone into great detail about what was wrong with the original papers, and journals have even allowed the team to declare that some of the results had been replicated. One simply said there had been misconduct.
Then there’s this one: Continue reading Bulfone-Paus retraction notice appears in the Journal of Biological Chemistry
University of East London “looking into” Jatinder Ahluwalia’s career
We’re continuing to follow the case of Jatinder Ahluwalia. As we reported on Tuesday, Ahluwalia was dismissed from graduate school at the University of Cambridge years before a University College London (UCL) investigation found had renumbered files to deceive a co-author, and had likely sabotaged his colleagues’ work while manipulating his solutions to improve how his results looked. The results of that investigation came to light as part of a Nature retraction.
Ahluwalia now works — and studies plagiarism, in fact — at the school of health and bioscience at the University of East London. We asked Neville Punchard, the school’s dean, whether the university was aware of Ahluwalia’s past. Punchard replied by email: Continue reading University of East London “looking into” Jatinder Ahluwalia’s career
Scandinavian Journal of Immunology publishes Bulfone-Paus retraction notice
Last week, we reported that the Scandinavian Journal of Immunology had noted that a 2002 paper by Silvia Bulfone-Paus and colleagues had been retracted, but hadn’t yet published the retraction notice. A commenter tipped us off this week that the notice is out: Continue reading Scandinavian Journal of Immunology publishes Bulfone-Paus retraction notice
Exclusive: Researcher found guilty of misconduct at UCL had been dismissed from Cambridge for data fabrication
Here at Retraction Watch, we’ve been following the case of Jatinder Ahluwalia with interest. You may recall that an investigation by University College London (UCL) found “beyond reasonable doubt” that Ahluwalia had renumbered files to deceive a co-author. UCL was also “highly confident” that Ahluwalia had messed with his solutions to make his results look better, and sabotaged his colleagues’ work. The report of that investigation was part of a Nature retraction notice.
We’ve now learned that UCL was not the first scene of misconduct by Ahluwalia. Yesterday, we obtained letters by University of Cambridge faculty and administrators describing repeated — and in the words of of one professor, amateurish — data fabrication by Ahluwalia that led to his dismissal from the university’s graduate program.
In a letter dated November 10, 1997, Martin Brand, then Ahluwalia’s PhD advisor, wrote: Continue reading Exclusive: Researcher found guilty of misconduct at UCL had been dismissed from Cambridge for data fabrication
Unglaublich! Boldt investigation may lead to more than 90 retractions
Self-plagiarism alert: A very similar version of this post is being published online in Anesthesiology News, where one of us (AM) is managing editor.
Unglaublich is the German word for unbelievable, and it’s an apt description for the latest development in the case of Joachim Boldt.
Boldt, a prominent German anesthesiologist, has been at the center of a research and publishing investigation since last October, when the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia retracted a 2009 article of his over concerns of data manipulation. This morning, the German medical board overseeing the case, the Landesärztekammer Rheinland-Pfalz (LÄK-RLP), released its findings — and they are truly stunning.
According to LAK, somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 of Boldt’s published articles might require retraction because the investigator failed to obtain approval from an institutional review board to conduct the research.
We don’t read German. But, fortunately, the LÄK-RLP announcement was accompanied by a joint letter posted to the websites of 11 major anesthesia journals. We do read English, and here’s what that letter says: Continue reading Unglaublich! Boldt investigation may lead to more than 90 retractions
Three more Bulfone-Paus retraction notices out, in Journal of Immunology
The retraction notices for papers by Silvia Bulfone-Paus continue to appear. Yesterday, the Journal of Immunology posted notices for these three previously accepted retractions by the researcher, work at whose Borstel Centre lab is under investigation for misconduct.
- The IL-15 receptor alpha chain signals through association with Syk in human B cells (2001, cited 58 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge): Continue reading Three more Bulfone-Paus retraction notices out, in Journal of Immunology