Another Expression of Concern for Milena Penkowa

gliaAnother paper by Milena Penkowa, who is being investigated for embezzlement as well as possible scientific misconduct, has been subject to an Expression of Concern:

Here’s the notice in Glia: Continue reading Another Expression of Concern for Milena Penkowa

A model retraction in the Journal of Neurochemistry for “unexpected effect” of a filter

jneurochemThey say that a poor workman blames his tools. If you’re a scientist and you discover your tools don’t do exactly what you thought they did, however, the right thing to do is let other scientists relying on your work know.

That’s what the University of Auckland’s Nigel Birch and colleagues did recently, after a 2012 study they published in the Journal of Neurochemistry didn’t hold up. Here’s the notice, which we’d consider a model for retractions everywhere: Continue reading A model retraction in the Journal of Neurochemistry for “unexpected effect” of a filter

Two retractions appear for former Harvard dental researcher found to have committed misconduct

Martin
Martin Biosse-Duplan

Martin Biosse-Duplan, a former Harvard dental school research fellow found by the Office of Research Integrity to have falsified results has had the two papers in question retracted.

From the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research: Continue reading Two retractions appear for former Harvard dental researcher found to have committed misconduct

Calibration error sends moisture paper down the drain

wrrcoverScientific experiments are like recipes: With the right components and the proper steps, the end result can be a thing of beauty. But if you start with a cup of salt instead of a cup of flour, well, even the neighbor’s schnauzer won’t touch that batch of sugar cookies.

That’s a little like the situation we have in “Controls on topographic dependence and temporal instability in catchment-scale soil moisture patterns,” a paper published in February in Water Resources Research by Michael Coleman and Jeffrey Niemann of Colorado State University.

According to the notice:

Continue reading Calibration error sends moisture paper down the drain

Paper on anti-HIV efforts in Uganda pulled for plagiarism

ijhpmA public health journal has retracted a 2010 paper by a CDC AIDS researcher in Uganda who appears to have lifted much of the work from a Canadian scientist.

The article, “Determinants of project success among HIV/AIDS NGOs in Rakai, Uganda,” appeared in the International Journal of Health Planning and Management, a Wiley title. The author was Stevens Bechange, who was listed as being with the Uganda Virus Research Institute, in Entebbe. Bechange’s Linkedin page says he is a doctoral student at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, UK, studying “Health, Wellness and Fitness.” His contact information on the article was an email with a CDC address (we’ve put in a call to the agency to find out more about his status but haven’t heard back yet).

As the abstract stated:

Continue reading Paper on anti-HIV efforts in Uganda pulled for plagiarism

Retraction 12 appears for Alirio Melendez, this one for plagiarism

alirio_melendezThe twelfth of Alirio Melendez’s 20-something retractions has appeared, in Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology.

Along with the retraction notice, the journal runs letters from the paper’s two co-authors. Melendez writes: Continue reading Retraction 12 appears for Alirio Melendez, this one for plagiarism

ORI, OHRP find “some human subject issues” in Henschke lung cancer studies, but no evidence of misconduct

cancerWe have an update on two papers about lung cancer screening by Claudia Henschke and colleagues that were subject to an Expression of Concern early last year.

The original Expression of Concern in Cancer read, in part: Continue reading ORI, OHRP find “some human subject issues” in Henschke lung cancer studies, but no evidence of misconduct

Flu paper duplication earns Expression of Concern

influenzaA six year-old review on bird flu that failed to credit some content from another six year-old review of bird flu is now stamped with an Expression of Concern.

Here’s the notice, from Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses: Continue reading Flu paper duplication earns Expression of Concern

Jesús Lemus notches his eighth retraction

animal conservationThe carcasses are piling up.

Jesús A. Lemus now has eight retractions. Here’s the notice for the most recent: Continue reading Jesús Lemus notches his eighth retraction

Scientist whose work is “not fully supported by the available laboratory records” to retract 8 more papers

SK Manna
SK Manna

Yesterday, we reported that Sunil Kumar Manna, the head of immunology at India’s Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, had retracted two papers for image problems.

Turns out Manna will be retracting eight more, he told us today. Here they are: Continue reading Scientist whose work is “not fully supported by the available laboratory records” to retract 8 more papers