Search Results for: images

Sodom comet paper to be retracted two years after editor’s note acknowledging concerns

Scientific Reports has retracted a controversial paper claiming to present evidence an ancient city in the Middle East was destroyed by an exploding celestial body – an event the authors suggested could have inspired the Biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah.  The decision comes two years after Scientific Reports, a Springer Nature title, published an … Continue reading Sodom comet paper to be retracted two years after editor’s note acknowledging concerns

UC Davis research director loses three papers for image manipulation

A lead researcher at UC Davis has lost three decades-old papers from the same journal for image duplication, and the journal says it is investigating more.  Allen Gao, director of research for the Department of Urologic Surgery at the institution is first last and corresponding author on the papers, published in The Prostate.  The journal … Continue reading UC Davis research director loses three papers for image manipulation

Biochemist with previous image duplication retractions loses another paper 

A researcher who retracted two papers last year following a years-long investigation has lost another, this one two decades old. The same journal also corrected two papers for image duplication within days of the retraction. The moves followed comments about image similarities on PubPeer. The retraction marks the third for biochemist Dario Alessi, a professor … Continue reading Biochemist with previous image duplication retractions loses another paper 

Chinese funding agency sanctions 26 researchers in latest misconduct report

The organization responsible for allocating basic research funding in China has issued misconduct findings against 26 researchers for violations ranging from breach of confidentiality to image manipulation, plagiarism, and buying and selling authorship.  The National Natural Science Foundation of China, or NSFC, released the results of 15 misconduct investigations on April 11. Several of the … Continue reading Chinese funding agency sanctions 26 researchers in latest misconduct report

Former Italian university head faces retractions and criminal investigations

A prominent Italian pharmacologist under investigation for embezzlement and rigging university contracts has garnered a dozen and a half retractions in the last year for image alterations and duplications. But Salvatore Cuzzocrea, the former rector of the University of Messina, told us he did not agree with the retractions because they were decided “without clear … Continue reading Former Italian university head faces retractions and criminal investigations

Weekend reads: On errors and consequences; AI in peer review; Canada’s PM accused of plagiarism

Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up past 500. There are more than 58,000 retractions in The Retraction Watch Database — which is now part of Crossref. The Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker now contains more than 300 titles. And have you seen our leaderboard of authors with the most retractions lately … Continue reading Weekend reads: On errors and consequences; AI in peer review; Canada’s PM accused of plagiarism

Dental researchers fabricated data in two articles, university investigation found

Two former professors and a former graduate student at Osaka Dental University in Japan reused images between three published articles, according to the findings of an institutional investigation.  The school released the findings of its investigation in January, with a full report in Japanese. The university has not responded to our request for comment.  According … Continue reading Dental researchers fabricated data in two articles, university investigation found

Cureus paper by dean and medical student retracted for mislabeled ECG 

A paper by a medical student and an associate professor in Florida has been retracted for errors with the central finding of the study, an electrocardiogram whose labeling “does not actually represent any of the characteristics” of the tracing.  The paper, “Silent Myocardial Infarction: A Case Report,” was published in Cureus in August 2023 and … Continue reading Cureus paper by dean and medical student retracted for mislabeled ECG 

Kidney researcher debarred from federal U.S. funding for image manipulation

A former Baylor College of Medicine researcher has been debarred from federal funding for two years after a review by the Office of Research Integrity found evidence of misconduct. Liping Zhang, a former assistant professor in the school’s nephrology section, “engaged in research misconduct in research supported by U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) funds,” according … Continue reading Kidney researcher debarred from federal U.S. funding for image manipulation

A second article describing new pain syndrome under scrutiny

A second paper on a contested pain disease is under investigation after sleuths raised questions about the methodology and possible fabrication of data.  Last year, Scientific Reports retracted a paper comparing the condition, which the authors dubbed Middle East Pain Syndrome, to rheumatoid arthritis for failing to establish a clear distinction between the two ailments. … Continue reading A second article describing new pain syndrome under scrutiny