Karolinska may reopen inquiry into star surgeon Macchiarini, following documentary’s revelations

Karolinska Institutet may reopen its misconduct investigation into acclaimed surgeon Paolo Macchiarini following new allegations revealed during a documentary series by Swedish Television. According to a recent statement from KI:

Weekend reads: Science press releases under fire; a new plagiarism excuse; win $1,000

The week at Retraction Watch featured the retraction of an entire issue of a journal and a renewable energy researcher agree to retract ten papers for recycling, and saw The Australian put us on its list of “30 Most Influential” in higher education for 2016. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Stem cell researcher that sued Harvard failed to disclose conflicts on 6 publications

Piero Anversa, a stem cell researcher who we recently learned is leaving Harvard and Brigham & Women’s Hospital after suing them, has added a disclosure statement to six publications. The four papers and two letters were published in Circulation, and all bear identical corrections: Piero Anversa, MD, discloses that he is a member of Analogous, LLC. The author … Continue reading Stem cell researcher that sued Harvard failed to disclose conflicts on 6 publications

Weekend reads: Criminal charges for plagiarism; NFL scientific interference; the authorship explosion

The week at Retraction Watch featured a move by the Journal of Biological Chemistry that we’re applauding, a retraction by a high-profile nutrition researcher, and an announcement about a new partnership to create a retraction database. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Weekend reads: Elsevier mutiny; babies as co-authors; what to do after rejection

This week’s Weekend Reads, which appears below, was preempted yesterday by the news that the Office of Research Integrity had issued a finding of misconduct in the long-running case of Anil Potti. The week also featured news about a child psychiatry trial halted for unexplained reasons, and saw the launch of our new weekly column … Continue reading Weekend reads: Elsevier mutiny; babies as co-authors; what to do after rejection

University revokes PhD of first author on retracted STAP stem cell papers

Waseda University has revoked the doctorate degree of the first author on the now-retracted Nature papers about a technique to create stem cells. The technique — which claimed to provide a new way to nudge young cells from mice into pluripotency — was initially described in two 2014 Nature papers, both first-authored by Haruko Obokata. However, the … Continue reading University revokes PhD of first author on retracted STAP stem cell papers

Authors retract two neuroscience papers for duplication and plagiarism

A tipster’s complaints have led to the retraction of two papers in the Journal of Neurosurgery for “plagiarism, duplicate publication, and copyright infringement.” The corresponding author for both papers, Hung-Chuan Pan of Taichung Veterans General Hospital, had contacted the journal about publishing an erratum for one of the articles when the journal was tipped off by … Continue reading Authors retract two neuroscience papers for duplication and plagiarism

Where I think Retraction Watch went wrong: A guest post from Paolo Macchiarini

We are pleased to present a guest post by Paolo Macchiarini, a surgeon best known for pioneering the creation of tracheas from cadavers and patients’ own stem cells. Macchiarini has faced some harsh criticisms over the years, including accusations of downplaying the risks of the procedure and not obtaining proper consent. We have covered the investigation, including … Continue reading Where I think Retraction Watch went wrong: A guest post from Paolo Macchiarini

5th retraction for Voinnet follows correction, EoC to PLOS Genetics paper

After correcting a paper due to problematic figure panels, researchers led by high-profile biologist Olivier Voinnet have now retracted it, after “further analysis of the paper revealed flaws in the interpretation of” another figure. PLOS Genetics published the retraction notice September 3 for the 2013 paper on the molecular details of embryonic stem cells in mice. First author Constance Ciaudo and Voinnet … Continue reading 5th retraction for Voinnet follows correction, EoC to PLOS Genetics paper