Patients did not okay publishing brain surgery details

BioMed Central has retracted a paper after realizing it shared details on the brain surgeries of four patients without their consent. Darlene Lobel, a neurosurgeon at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, agreed to the retraction, and told us she didn’t know that she needed consent from the patients since all identifying details had been removed. The paper describes … Continue reading Patients did not okay publishing brain surgery details

Authors pull Mol Cell paper for “inappropriate manipulation” of data

The authors of a Molecular Cell paper have retracted it due to issues with multiple figures — including one with evidence of “intentional misconduct.” According to the authors’ institution, IMIM in Barcelona, all co-authors are aware of the retraction. The penultimate author — Antonio García de Herreros — retracted three papers in May from the Journal of Biological Chemistry for … Continue reading Authors pull Mol Cell paper for “inappropriate manipulation” of data

Here’s why this lawyer defends scientists accused of misconduct

More scientists are trying to settle accusations of misconduct in court, a trend very familiar to Washington, DC-based lawyer Paul Thaler. Regular readers may recall the name of one of Thaler’s clients — Rakesh Kumar, a scientist at George Washington University who filed an $8 million lawsuit for how the school handled an investigation into his work. … Continue reading Here’s why this lawyer defends scientists accused of misconduct

Investigation raises questions about top cancer researcher’s work

A prominent pancreatic cancer researcher has lost a meeting abstract and corrected a Nature paper following an institutional investigation. Queen Mary University of London determined that, in an abstract by Thorsten Hagemann, “elements of the study summarised by this abstract are not reliable.” Hagemann has recently issued a correction to a 2014 Nature paper he co-authored, which also … Continue reading Investigation raises questions about top cancer researcher’s work

Weekend reads: Open data’s downsides; do journals serve a purpose?; fraud allegations down in China

The week at Retraction Watch featured news that a religion journal wouldn’t be retracting a paper despite evidence of forgery in the evidence it relied on, and also news that we’re hiring. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Dental paper pulled for “wrong content with serious consequences”

An article on how missing teeth affect chewing was — well, pulled — when someone noticed a few errors. The journal later published a corrected version. The retraction for “Chewing ability in an adult Chinese population” appeared in Clinical Oral Investigations in 2012, but we’re sharing it with you now because the notice contains some remarkable language: This article has been … Continue reading Dental paper pulled for “wrong content with serious consequences”

Weekend reads: Naughty journals; whistleblowers’ frustration; new misconduct definition?

The week at Retraction Watch featured revelations of fraud in more than $100 million in government research, and swift findings in a much-discussed case. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

JAMA authors retract (and replace) paper about moves and kids’ mental health

JAMA authors have retracted — and replaced — a 2014 paper about the mental health effects of household moves on kids, after they found errors while completing an additional analysis. The original paper concluded that in “families who moved out of high-poverty neighborhoods, boys experienced an increase and girls a decrease in rates of depression and conduct … Continue reading JAMA authors retract (and replace) paper about moves and kids’ mental health

Nutrition researcher loses two more papers after misconduct findings come to light

The self-proclaimed “father of nutritional immunology,” Ranjit Kumar Chandra, has lost two more papers following the release of a misconduct investigation report by his former employer, Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). The report was released last year after Chandra lost his libel suit against the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC). The newly retracted papers were both published in Nutrition Research. On … Continue reading Nutrition researcher loses two more papers after misconduct findings come to light

Leiden requests two retractions over misconduct

The Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) has asked a journal to retract two papers after revealing a former employee manipulated data. The report does not name the individual nor the journal, but notes that they work in a molecular field, and are currently employed by a university outside The Netherlands. According to a news release about … Continue reading Leiden requests two retractions over misconduct