The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine has retracted a 2012 paper by a group of pediatric gut researchers in Naples, Italy, who seemed to have had a visceral reaction to using their own words. The paper, “Composition and roles of intestinal microbiota in children,” sought to provide an update of the advantages of new-generation … Continue reading Near “word-to-word” similarities topple microflora paper
A group of neonatal researchers in Caen has lost their 2013 review article in Archives of Disease in Childhood Fetal & Neonatal Edition for a variety of problems with their analysis of the data. The article was titled “NIDCAP in preterm infants and the neurodevelopmental effect in the first 2 years,” and its first author was … Continue reading Multiple data errors force retraction of paper about preemies
Two researchers who wrote a review article on the genetics of lung cancer have retracted the paper. But why evidently is for them to know and us to find out. The article, “Epigenetic aberrant methylation of tumor suppressor genes in small cell lung cancer,” was published in the August 2013 issue of the Journal of … Continue reading Why was that lung cancer paper retracted? The “authors’ reason,” of course
The European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging has an interesting exchange of retraction-related notices in its pages. The article, “Neuroradiological advances detect abnormal neuroanatomy underlying neuropsychological impairments: the power of PET imaging,” appeared in 2011 and was written by Benjamin Hayempour and Abass Alavi, one of the pioneers in PET imaging. According to … Continue reading Retraction prompts letter of explanation by co-author — and a legal threat against Retraction Watch
PNAS has a curious correction in a recent issue. A group from Toronto and Mount Sinai in New York, it seems, had been rather too liberal in their use of text from a previously published paper by another researcher — what we might call plagiarism, in a less charitable mood. To paraphrase Beyoncé: If you … Continue reading Correction by punctuation? PNAS fixes paper by putting quotes around plagiarized passages
A pair of authors from Italy has retracted their 2012 article in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine for including chunks of text with a “high degree of similarity” from other published sources. But rest assured: the authors, we’re told, didn’t intend to do so. The article, “Central venous catheterization and thrombosis in newborns: … Continue reading Virtually verbatim text earns retraction of neonate paper, gives authors a pass
The journal Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs has retracted a 2012 article on over-the-counter drugs by a trio of pharmacy researchers in India who decided to “reproduce content to a high degree of similarity” from other sources. Here’s how the retraction notice puts it:
The author of a review article on diabetes has been forced to retract the paper after it emerged that he failed to properly credit some of the text — an omission we generally associate with the word plagiarism. The article, “Colonic flora, probiotics, obesity and diabetes,” was written by Paul Marik, of Eastern Virginia Medical … Continue reading Frontiers papers on GMO debate, diabetes retracted for improperly cited text
In our work here at Retraction Watch, we’ve seen a number of euphemisms for plagiarism. (See slides 18-22 of this presentation for a selection.) Today, in following up on a case we covered last month, we’ve learned of a new way to avoid saying the dreaded p-word. We reported in June that sex researcher Willibrord … Continue reading What’s the difference between plagiarism and “unintended and unknowing breach of copyright?”
A fraud investigation at a New York state research institution has led to two retractions of papers looking at genetic links to autism. The 2011 papers, which appeared in Genes, Brain and Behavior, involve work conducted at the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities’ (OPWDD’s) Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, … Continue reading Autism genetics papers retracted after fraud inquiry at NY research agency