Journals retracts three bone papers for duplication by same author

A journal is Journals are retracting three papers after a biomaterials researcher duplicated his own work, sometimes using the same figures to describe different experiments. Two of the papers are on bone regeneration; one is about targeting tumors. In addition to issues with figures, two one of the retraction notes explain that the papers contain “widespread plagiarism of text” … Continue reading Journals retracts three bone papers for duplication by same author

Researchers plagiarized chapter of doctoral thesis in mol bio paper

A journal has pulled a paper about the molecular details of different types of adipose tissues after learning the researchers had plagiarized much of a Ph.D. thesis. The researchers copied from former Ph.D. student Bettina Meissburger’s doctoral thesis in a 2013 paper in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. The retraction note for “Adipose stromal-vascular fraction-derived paracrine … Continue reading Researchers plagiarized chapter of doctoral thesis in mol bio paper

Weekend reads: Scientist slams bloggers; men love their own work; public science broken?

The week at Retraction Watch featured a paper on reincarnation being retracted because it was plagiarized from Wikipedia, the swift retraction of a paper claiming that women’s makeup use was tied to testosterone levels, and a lot of news about trachea surgeon Paolo Macchiarini.  Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Do scientists need audits?

If audits work for the Internal Revenue Service, could they also work for science? We’re pleased to present a guest post from Viraj Mane, a life sciences commercialization manager in Toronto, and Amy Lossie at the National Institutes of Health, who have a unique proposal for how to improve the quality of papers: Random audits of … Continue reading Do scientists need audits?

Weekend reads: Go ahead, plagiarize and sabotage your colleagues; star surgeon’s days at Karolinska numbered

The week at Retraction Watch featured a case of a disappearing journal, lots of bad news for Olivier Voinnet, and advice on what to do when you make a mistake. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Here are the 10 — yes, 10 — reasons PLOS ONE retracted this paper

PLOS One is retracting a paper for overlapping with a Wikipedia page. And for containing material lifted from other sources. And for “language errors.” And for insufficient evidence that authors found the pathogens floating around in hospital air that they claimed to find. The instances of plagiarism are a “huge problem,” each “enough for retraction on … Continue reading Here are the 10 — yes, 10 — reasons PLOS ONE retracted this paper

Paper on pine tree genetics chopped for duplication

A paper on genetic variability in Austrian pine trees apparently didn’t vary enough from other work. The journal is now retracting the 2012 paper for having significant overlap with another paper published in 2008. Another researcher pointed out the duplication — which was unintentional, according to the note, the result of an apparent failure in communication between the … Continue reading Paper on pine tree genetics chopped for duplication

Anonymous complaint about Dutch economist is “unfounded”: Report

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) has dismissed an anonymous accusation against economist Peter Nijkamp and two of his colleagues, including one of his graduate students, regarding issues related to “data acquisition and data processing.” The announcement, released last week, determined the latest complaint was “unfounded:”

Satellite paper grounded for plagiarizing — from the same journal

Plagiarism happens; we see it a lot. But some cases stand out from the crowd. For instance, we just came across an example where authors plagiarized from a paper in the same journal. Specifically, a 2015 paper on satellite orbits was found to have “extensive overlap” with another paper published in Acta Astronautica four years earlier. The last authors of … Continue reading Satellite paper grounded for plagiarizing — from the same journal

Communications researcher regrets “severe shortcomings” in three publications

A communications researcher in Switzerland has made a few errors in his efforts to communicate his research. Peter J. Schulz, who works at the University of Lugano, has lost a paper which did not “appropriately acknowledge” another paper as its primary source. He has also corrected a paper with “severe shortcomings in the references.” Both papers were published … Continue reading Communications researcher regrets “severe shortcomings” in three publications