Double dipping on trial data topples 17-year-old macular degeneration article

redjournalThe authors of a 1997 paper on macular degeneration have lost the article after readers noticed uncanny similarities with a 1996 publication from several of the same authors.

The retracted article, “Radiation therapy for macular degeneration: Technical considerations and preliminary results,” appeared in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics — otherwise known as the “Red Journal.” The first author, Luther W. Brady, is a leading U.S. oncologist.

According to the retraction notice: Continue reading Double dipping on trial data topples 17-year-old macular degeneration article

Author of alcohol paper retracted for plagiarism defends copy-and-paste strategy

nmlogoThe authors of a paper retracted for plagiarism of a popular website have decided not to take the charges — which they don’t contest — lying down.

Here’s the notice for “Alcohol consumption and hormonal alterations related to muscle hypertrophy: a review,” which appeared in Nutrition & Metabolism, a BioMed Central title: Continue reading Author of alcohol paper retracted for plagiarism defends copy-and-paste strategy

It’s happened again: Researcher appears to have peer reviewed his own paper

bmc sys bioAlthough it shocks some observers every time, we’ve reported on the retractions of more than 100 papers pulled because authors managed to do their own peer review.

Apparently, it’s happened again.

Here’s a retraction notice in BMC Systems Biology for “Predicting new molecular targets for rhein using network pharmacology,” by  Aihua Zhang, Hui Sun, Bo Yang and Xijun Wang:

Continue reading It’s happened again: Researcher appears to have peer reviewed his own paper

Notice fails to get to the heart of cardiology retraction

cmjThis one is a little odd.

A cardiology paper from China has been retracted because “permission to report these discussions was not sought nor obtained,” though it’s unclear what “the discussions” refers to. The person to whom the discussions are attributed to in the retraction, Ji Bingyang, is not an author on the paper, and none of his papers are cited in the retracted article.

Here’s the notice in the Chinese Medical Journal for “A novel rat model of cardiopulmonary bypass for deep hypothermic circulatory arrest without blood priming”:
Continue reading Notice fails to get to the heart of cardiology retraction

Deceased researcher has two more papers retracted

free radicalA late researcher in Italy who has already been blamed for image manipulation in a PLOS ONE retraction notice has had two more papers retracted, both from Free Radical Biology and Medicine.

Here’s the notice for 2007’s “Redox regulation of 7-ketocholesterol-induced apoptosis by β-carotene in human macrophages,” by Paola Palozza and colleagues: Continue reading Deceased researcher has two more papers retracted

Downstream effects: Comment on retracted narcolepsy paper retracted

stmcoverThe recent retraction of a paper in Science Translational Medicine reporting “one of the biggest things to happen” in narcolepsy research has claimed a bystander: A letter that commented on the no-longer-landmark article.

The authors of the letter are with GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccine division. Here’s the new notice: Continue reading Downstream effects: Comment on retracted narcolepsy paper retracted

Retraction, tell-all style, for breast cancer radiology paper

acta radHere at Retraction Watch, we don’t believe in the expression “TMI.” But this case features a level of detail we’re not sure we’ve seen before.

Acta Radiologica has pulled a 2012 article on breast cancer imaging for being a duplicate publication — a sin the retraction notice takes great pains to point out.

The notice, written by journal editor Arnulf Skjennald, has the blow-by-blow feel of a police report: Continue reading Retraction, tell-all style, for breast cancer radiology paper

Hepatology issues corrections in two papers from Pitt liver group

hepatology A group of liver researchers from the University of Pittsburgh has earned a pair of corrections in Hepatology for image problems.

The team was led by George K. Michalopoulos, chair of the department of pathology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

One article, “Excessive hepatomegaly of mice with hepatocyte-targeted elimination of integrin linked kinase following treatment with 1,4-bis [2-(3,5-dichaloropyridyloxy)] benzene,” appeared in January 2011. According to the notice: Continue reading Hepatology issues corrections in two papers from Pitt liver group

Solvent paper dissolves under heat of institutional investigation

Jced_coverA chemical engineering paper published in February has been retracted for data and authorship problems.

According to the retraction notice, the authors’ institutions investigated and found that not only was the data not reproducible, but “not all co-authors on the manuscript were aware of or agreed to the content and scientific conclusions in the article.”

Here’s the notice in the Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data for “Ionic Liquids as Promising Solvents for Biomass Derived Mannitol and Xylitol”: Continue reading Solvent paper dissolves under heat of institutional investigation

Researcher who broke into lab up to nine retractions

bichaw_v053i036.inddKarel Bezouška, a researcher who broke into a lab refrigerator to tamper with an investigation into his work, has nine retractions.

Here’s the retraction notice in Biochemistry for 2010’s “Cooperation between Subunits Is Essential for High-Affinity Binding of N-Acetyl-d-hexosamines to Dimeric Soluble and Dimeric Cellular Forms of Human CD69:” Continue reading Researcher who broke into lab up to nine retractions