Search Results for: plagiarism

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

Paper claiming GMO dangers retracted amid allegations of data manipulation

A nutrition journal is retracting a paper about potential dangers of eating food containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for duplicating a figure, as news stories from Italy are reporting accusations that the last author falsified some of his research. In the paper, Federico Infascelli, an animal nutrition researcher at the University of Naples, and his colleagues showed modified genes … Continue reading Paper claiming GMO dangers retracted amid allegations of data manipulation

Data dispute forces journal to pull paper about rare bird on valuable land

The authors of a paper about the density of an endangered bird on valuable Texas lands are disputing the journal’s decision to pull the paper after other scientists objected to some of its contents. The paper, published online in August by the Journal of Field Ornithology, compared different models for estimating the number of golden-cheeked warblers that nest … Continue reading Data dispute forces journal to pull paper about rare bird on valuable land

Romanian law shortens jail time for prisoners who write books. (They may ax it.)

Romanian officials are taking a stand against a long-standing oddity in the law that entitles prisoners to 30 days off their jail sentence for every piece of academic writing they author. The crackdown is occurring after a surge in jail literature in the last two years— approximately 200 inmates have authored around 400 scientific works … Continue reading Romanian law shortens jail time for prisoners who write books. (They may ax it.)

Renewable energy researcher recycled material, agrees to withdraw 10 papers

Investigations at two institutions at Taiwan determined in 2013 that a renewable energy researcher duplicated his own work; the researcher agreed to pull 10 papers. A total of six have been withdrawn or retracted, two in November, 2015. Shyi-Min Lu is the corresponding author on the two newly retracted papers, from Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. The retractions follow investigations at the … Continue reading Renewable energy researcher recycled material, agrees to withdraw 10 papers

Weekend reads: A celebrity surgeon’s double life; misconduct in sports medicine; researcher loses honor

This week at Retraction Watch featured a literally bullshit excuse for fake data, a new record for time from publication to retraction, and news of an upcoming retraction from Science. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Inventors have a dust up over air sampling device

To climate scientist Pieter Tans, a “novel” air sampling device in a recent paper looked a little too familiar. Specifically, like a device that he had invented — the AirCore, which he calls a “tape recorder” for air. The journal editors came up with a unique solution to the disagreement that followed, which the editor in chief called … Continue reading Inventors have a dust up over air sampling device

Weekend reads: Why authors keep citing retracted studies; patients over papers; final ruling in Hwang case

Here’s our first post of 2016. The week at Retraction Watch featured a retraction from JAMA, and our list of most-cited retracted papers. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Study on eye imaging device withdrawn for German duplication

An article describing a Japanese imaging device that measures eye surface temperature to help diagnose ocular conditions has been retracted because it contained duplicated material that the authors had published previously in German. Here’s the September retraction note for “Measurement of Dynamic Ocular Surface Temperature in Healthy Subjects Using a New Thermography Device,” published in … Continue reading Study on eye imaging device withdrawn for German duplication