Search Results for: pubpeer

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

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

Was nonsense ‘vegetative electron microscopy’ phrase a Farsi typo?

A gibberish phrase that caught the attention of science sleuths after it slipped into several journals might trace its origin to a typo in Farsi rather than questionable use of AI, as we reported earlier this month. Nearly two dozen scientific papers, including some in journals from major publishers, mysteriously refer to “vegetative electron microscopy” … Continue reading Was nonsense ‘vegetative electron microscopy’ phrase a Farsi typo?

Author forges document to claim USDA affiliation 

A journal has retracted three papers after an investigation revealed one of the authors falsely claimed he was affiliated with the United States Department of Agriculture. All three retraction notices, issued February 13 by the Journal of Environmental Management,  state study coauthor Tariq Shah claimed affiliation with the USDA Plant Science Research Unit. “When asked … Continue reading Author forges document to claim USDA affiliation 

Exclusive: Extensive correction to Genentech PNAS article will get an update after RW inquiry

An article by Genentech scientists received an extensive correction in January for multiple instances of image duplications after comments on PubPeer spurred the authors to review the work.  But the correction “inadvertently omitted” an additional duplication, and will be updated after Retraction Watch brought the matter to the journal’s attention, a representative for the publication … Continue reading Exclusive: Extensive correction to Genentech PNAS article will get an update after RW inquiry

Paper on conversion therapy retracted, authors planning to republish 

A four-year-old paper claiming conversion therapy reduced same-sex thoughts in gay men has been retracted after criticism from other researchers prompted further review of the work. “Efficacy and risk of sexual orientation change efforts: a retrospective analysis of 125 exposed men,” published in F1000Research in March 2021, found conversion therapy (referred to in the paper … Continue reading Paper on conversion therapy retracted, authors planning to republish 

ICYMI: Second paper by Nobel laureate Thomas Südhof retracted

A 2017 paper coauthored by Nobel laureate Thomas Südhof has been retracted.  The article, “Conditional Deletion of All Neurexins Defines Diversity of Essential Synaptic Organizer Functions for Neurexins,” was published in Neuron in May 2017 and has been cited 145 times, according to Clarivate’s Web of Science.  The retraction notice, issued February 11, states: We, … Continue reading ICYMI: Second paper by Nobel laureate Thomas Südhof retracted

As a nonsense phrase of shady provenance makes the rounds, Elsevier defends its use

The phrase was so strange it would have stood out even to a non-scientist. Yet “vegetative electron microscopy” had already made it past reviewers and editors at several journals when a Russian chemist and scientific sleuth noticed the odd wording in a now-retracted paper in Springer Nature’s Environmental Science and Pollution Research.  The ludicrous phrase … Continue reading As a nonsense phrase of shady provenance makes the rounds, Elsevier defends its use

Researcher removed from journal masthead, loses three more papers

A management journal has removed from its masthead an editor who was the subject of a Retraction Watch post last month. Shalini Srivastava, a professor at the Jaipuria Institute of Management in India, was an associate editor at Employee Relations, an Emerald Publishing title. We reported last month that two articles she coauthored — one … Continue reading Researcher removed from journal masthead, loses three more papers

‘The fraud was not subtle’: Chemist blames students after ten papers retracted

While reviewing a manuscript for the Journal of Organic Chemistry, Caroline Kervarc-Genre and her colleague, Thibault Cantat, researchers at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, noticed something unusual.  The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra buried in the supplementary information had striking irregularities: The baseline was interrupted in some parts, and the noise was … Continue reading ‘The fraud was not subtle’: Chemist blames students after ten papers retracted