Misconduct happens. So what can journal editors do find and prevent it? While we don’t claim to be experts in working on the other side of the fence — eg as editors — Ivan was flattered to be asked by session organizers at the Council of Science Editors to appear on a panel on the … Continue reading How journal editors can detect and deter scientific misconduct
There has been some news over the past few weeks about Marc Hauser, the Harvard psychologist found guilty of misconduct by the university last year. First, because Harvard had listed him in a course catalog, The Crimson said that he might be teaching again, following a ban. But that turned out not to be the … Continue reading Science publishes replication of Marc Hauser study, says results hold up
There’s helpful but uninformative: Ivan: What’s the weather like today? Adam: Sunny. And then there’s uninformative as served up by the Journal of Biological Chemistry. We’ve already recounted one teeth-grinding experience with the JBC, a publication of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The case involved two papers in JBC by Axel Ullrich, … Continue reading Freedom from Information Act? Another JBC retraction untarnished by any facts
Last October, Retraction Watch readers will recall, up-and-coming stem cell researcher Amy Wagers retracted a study in Nature describing how her team rejuvenated blood-forming stem cells in older mice. Shane Mayack, a postdoc in Wagers’ lab who had been dismissed after an inquiry into what happened, did not sign that retraction. Since then, Mayack … Continue reading In a retraction’s wake: Postdoc Shane Mayack, dismissed from Amy Wagers’ stem cell lab, speaks out
The retraction notices for papers by Silvia Bulfone-Paus continue to appear. Yesterday, the Journal of Immunology posted notices for these three previously accepted retractions by the researcher, work at whose Borstel Centre lab is under investigation for misconduct. The IL-15 receptor alpha chain signals through association with Syk in human B cells (2001, cited 58 … Continue reading Three more Bulfone-Paus retraction notices out, in Journal of Immunology
We’ve had two questions since learning of the fraud case involving Naoki Mori: Who discovered the manipulations? And how? We now have answers. We recently received an e-mail from a researcher who specializes in Mori’s field — cancer viruses — and who claims to have been a reviewer of a paper he submitted early last year … Continue reading Cracking the Mori case: A reviewer describes how manipulated images came to light
We’ve been honored by all the attention Retraction Watch has been getting for breaking the story of Naoki Mori—the Japanese virologist who recently received a 10-year publishing ban from the American Society of Microbiology over concerns that he manipulated his images. Mori’s retraction count is now up to 11, we’ve been able to report with … Continue reading Mori, now up to 11 retractions, was dismissed in August over fraud matter
Remote Sensing has retracted an article whose author decided that a previously published thesis said it best—and decided not mention that inconvenient fact. The article, “Study of soil scattering coefficients in combination with diesel for a slightly rough surface in the cj band,” was published in late December 2009. The author was Alireza Taravat Najafabadi, … Continue reading Remote Sensing pulls soil scattering paper lifted from earlier thesis
Late last month we wrote about a handful of retractions involving Naoki Mori, a promising Japanese cancer researcher who appears to have built a CV with the help of fabricated evidence. The fraud earned Mori a 10-year publishing ban from the American Society of Microbiology, which publishes Infection and Immunity. There were two other retractions … Continue reading Fraud by Naoki Mori claims another paper, this one in a journal whose board he sits on
Paging Dr. Murphy. In July, the editors of Cancer Biology & Therapy published a retraction remarkable for its scope. Apparently, nearly everything dishonest authors can do to doctor a manuscript, these authors did. The paper, “Overexpression of transketolase protein TKTL1 is associated with occurrence and progression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma,” initially appeared on the journal’s website … Continue reading Best of Retractions Part III: Whatever can go wrong …