Category: united states

Scientist found to have falsified data in thesis sues to keep her PhD

org lettersIn August 2012, the authors of “Novel Approach to the Lundurine Alkaloids: Synthesis of the Tetracyclic Core,” a paper in Organic Letters, retracted it:

The authors retract this Organic Letters communication on the basis that the RCM of 24 to give 25 (Scheme 6) is not reproducible; thus, the reduction of 25 to give 26 (Scheme 7) is also not reproducible.

The case was covered in some detail by The Heterocyclist blog, and also by Derek Lowe at In The Pipeline, who called it “an odd retraction.” Lowe recently picked up the story with an update: The first author, Suvi Orr, is suing the University of Texas-Austin, where she earned her PhD and did the work, to stop them from taking away her degree.

The Austin American-Statesman reported last month: Continue reading Scientist found to have falsified data in thesis sues to keep her PhD

Brutal honesty: Author takes to PubPeer to announce retraction — and tells us she’ll lose PhD, professorship

Eriko Suzuki
Eriko Suzuki

Over the past week, there have been a number of comments on PubPeer — a site of which we’re big fans — about a 2007 paper in Oncogene.

The comments suggested that the figures in the paper had problems. Some bands seemed to be duplicated, and one of the images looked very much like that of another paper.

Then, today, first author Eriko Suzuki left this comment: Continue reading Brutal honesty: Author takes to PubPeer to announce retraction — and tells us she’ll lose PhD, professorship

Authors retract study suggesting magnesium prevents Alzheimer’s in mice

j neuroscienceThe authors of a 2013 Journal of Neuroscience study suggesting that “elevation of brain magnesium…may have therapeutic potential for treating [Alzheimer’s disease] in humans” have retracted it after finding errors in the work.

Here’s the original abstract:

Continue reading Authors retract study suggesting magnesium prevents Alzheimer’s in mice

NIH/Harvard team loses aging study to manipulated data

agecoverAge has retracted a 2012 article by a group of scientists from the National Institutes of Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston after an NIH inquiry turned up evidence of data manipulation in the work.

The article, “Aging decreases rate of docosahexaenoic acid synthesis-secretion from circulating unesterified α-linolenic acid by rat liver,” came from the lab of Stanley Rapoport, chief of the brain physiology and metabolism section of the National Institute on Aging.

As the abstract explained: Continue reading NIH/Harvard team loses aging study to manipulated data

Fraud fells Alzheimer’s “made to order” neurons paper in Cell

cell414In 2011, a group of researchers at Columbia University reported in Cell that they had been able to convert skin cells from patients with Alzheimer’s disease into functioning neurons — a finding that raised the exciting prospect of “made to order” brain cells for patients with the degenerative disease. As one researcher not involved with the study, led by Asa Abeliovich, put it:

“[This is] simply a remarkable and complete piece of work which will now set a standard for stem cell work in neurological disease. The standard of the characterization of the neuronal cultures is very high,” John Hardy at University College London, U.K., wrote to [Alzforum]. He was not involved in the work but is taking a similar approach in his own lab.

According to the abstract of “Directed Conversion of Alzheimer’s Disease Patient Skin Fibroblasts into Functional Neurons:”

Continue reading Fraud fells Alzheimer’s “made to order” neurons paper in Cell

Harvard-Brigham heart researcher under investigation earns Lancet Expression of Concern

logo_lancetOn Tuesday, we broke the news of the retraction in Circulation of a paper on cardiac stem cells by a group of researchers being investigated by Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Today, The Lancet has issued an Expression of Concern about another paper led by Piero Anversa, the last author of the Circulation paper.

Continue reading Harvard-Brigham heart researcher under investigation earns Lancet Expression of Concern

Lack of citation prompts correction in Nature journal

nature communicationsIt’s not unusual to hear authors bemoan the fact that a new paper doesn’t cite their work that set the stage for a scientific advance. “The journal limited me to [a seemingly abitrary number of] references,” authors sometimes shrug, with or without apology. This week, however, we found a case of that which seems to have been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.

The authors of a September 2013 article in Nature Communications have issued a correction for the piece, which failed to cite the source of a key step in their experiment.

The article, “Val66Met polymorphism of BDNF alters prodomain structure to induce neuronal growth cone retraction,” came from the lab of William “Clay” Bracken, a biochemist at Weill Cornell Medical College. According to the abstract: Continue reading Lack of citation prompts correction in Nature journal

Harvard and the Brigham investigating leading heart group for “compromised” data

circulationcoverCirculation has retracted a 2012 study by a group of Harvard heart specialists over concerns of corrupt data, and the university is investigating. The group was led by Piero Anversa, a leading cardiologist, and Joseph Loscalzo — who will be familiar to readers of Circulation as the editor in chief of that journal. (Anversa’s also on the editorial board).

Continue reading Harvard and the Brigham investigating leading heart group for “compromised” data

Double taxation: Journal retracts paper it published twice

intl studies quarterlyInternational Studies Quarterly, a Wiley title, is retracting a paper because — oops! — it published the same article twice, unbeknownst to the authors.

Here’s the notice: Continue reading Double taxation: Journal retracts paper it published twice

Scientists, do you feel bullied by critics? These chemists do

eaton
Bruce Eaton, via UC-Boulder
feldheim
Daniel Feldheim, via UC-Boulder

A new site, Stand Up 2 Science Bullies, launched last week:

www.standup2sciencebullies.com is a forum for scientists to share their experience and provide advice pertaining to scientific bullying.  We welcome questions and comments from all scientists including students, faculty, and members of industry.  We sincerely hope that this forum will serve as an informative resource for scientists who feel that they are being treated unfairly by other scientists.

Continue reading Scientists, do you feel bullied by critics? These chemists do