Category: misconduct investigations

Does a new retraction suggest a glimmer of hope for transparency at the Journal of Neuroscience?

Believe it or not, we look for policies to praise here at Retraction Watch HQ, especially if they mark a change from approaches that we and others have criticized. So we were heartened to read this retraction notice in The Journal of Neuroscience for “Lmx1b-Controlled Isthmic Organizer Is Essential for Development of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons:”

The Journal of Neuroscience has received a report describing an investigation by the Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, which found major data misrepresentation in the article by Guo et al. Because the results cannot be considered reliable, The Journal is retracting the paper.

The study has been cited five times since it was published in 2008, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge. Here’s some background on why we thought we’d have something to praise, from a Nature feature this week on retractions: Continue reading Does a new retraction suggest a glimmer of hope for transparency at the Journal of Neuroscience?

Science issues Expression of Concern over already-corrected Melendez-Puneet paper

Two weeks ago, we posted on a Nature Immunology retraction by a group that had earlier published a correction to figures in a Science paper. At the time, many readers suggested there was more to this story — and we had the same hunch.

Turns out those hunches were right.

Today, Science issued an “Expression of Concern” about the paper they’ve already corrected: Continue reading Science issues Expression of Concern over already-corrected Melendez-Puneet paper

Cal Poly Pomona education researcher leaves post after rampant plagiarism is revealed

In late June, we wrote about a case of wholesale plagiarism involving an education researcher in California, Thienhuong N. Hoang. Our post prompted a flurry of emails from readers cluing us in to other cases in which Hoang, of California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, had lifted essentially entire articles from other scholars and changed little, if anything, but the author information.

For example, Hoang’s “‘The Contributions of Teachers’ Credentialing Routes and Experience Levels on Classroom Management,” in the January 2009 issue of the International Journal of Instruction, was the same, nearly word-for-word, as the work of two other authors, “Exploring the relationship between certification sources, experience levels, and classroom management orientations of classroom teachers,” published in Teaching and Teacher Education in 2007.

The International Journal of Instruction has removed the article from its archive and placed this announcement on its site: Continue reading Cal Poly Pomona education researcher leaves post after rampant plagiarism is revealed

Two papers to be retracted after ORI finds misconduct by Boston University cancer researcher

courtesy Nature Publishing Group

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has found that a Boston University cancer researcher made up experiments reported in two papers funded by National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health grants. According to the ORI notice:

Sheng Wang, PhD, Boston University School of Medicine Cancer Research Center: Based on the Respondent’s acceptance of ORI’s research misconduct findings, ORI found that Dr. Sheng Wang, who has been an Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine Cancer Research Center (BUSM), engaged in research misconduct in research supported by National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants R01 CA102940 and R01 CA101992.

The two papers were: Continue reading Two papers to be retracted after ORI finds misconduct by Boston University cancer researcher

University investigating leading German derm lab that retracted Immunology paper

The laboratory of Michael Hertl, a German dermatology researcher with an international reputation, is under investigation for possible misconduct, according to a legal official at Hertl’s institution, Philipps-Universitat Marburg.

The acknowledgement was prompted by our query earlier this week about a 2008 paper from Hertl’s group that had been retracted by the journal Immunology. According to the July 25 retraction notice: Continue reading University investigating leading German derm lab that retracted Immunology paper

Carsten Carlberg out at University of Luxembourg

The University of Luxembourg has fired researcher Carsten Carlberg after concluding that his name was a drag on the institution.

Here’s an English  translation of an article about the firing, which many readers were kind enough to forward to us: Continue reading Carsten Carlberg out at University of Luxembourg

Four mysterious retractions in the JBC for a group whose PI recently passed away

The Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) has retracted four studies done in a Mount Sinai School of Medicine lab whose principal investigator died last month. The studies, by the late Maria Diverse-Pierluissi and colleagues, were as follows:

According to a Mount Sinai release, Diverse-Pierluissi died on May 7 of this year. The retractions are dated June 17, and all say the same thing: Continue reading Four mysterious retractions in the JBC for a group whose PI recently passed away

Update on Journal of Neuroscience retractions: Authors being investigated. Plus, editor explains why notices say nothing

We have updates on the two mysterious Journal of Neuroscience retractions we reported on yesterday. One is that we have learned that there is a university investigation into the work of one of the teams that retracted one of the studies. More on that in a bit.

Two, the journal’s editor, John Maunsell, responded to our request for comment, and we’re quoting his entire email (with annotation) because we think it raises important issues: Continue reading Update on Journal of Neuroscience retractions: Authors being investigated. Plus, editor explains why notices say nothing

Journal of Neuroscience retracts two, one 13 years old

The June 8 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience includes two retractions:

The notices are completely uninformative. They read: Continue reading Journal of Neuroscience retracts two, one 13 years old

U. Luxembourg official offers more detail — or tries to — on Carsten Carlberg case

We’re continuing to try to find out more about the developing story surrounding Carsten Carlberg. Carlberg, as we have reported, was senior author on two papers retracted last year because one of the authors, a graduate student in Carlberg’s lab at the University of Eastern Finland  (formerly Kuopio), fabricated data.

Carlberg holds a dual appointment with the University of Luxembourg, which recently announced the results of a months-long investigation into his behavior.

We have been relying on unofficial translations of a May 20th statement by university officials such as this one, by a generous Retraction Watch reader: Continue reading U. Luxembourg official offers more detail — or tries to — on Carsten Carlberg case