Search Results for: fraud

University of Utah finds former faculty member guilty of misconduct because of “reckless disregard”

Since last May, we’ve been reporting on a case at the University of Utah involving two retractions and two corrections. When the story first broke, the lab blamed a former worker for inappropriately removing data from the premises, and the university has been investigating. Last month, we reported that Ivana De Domenico, the junior faculty … Continue reading University of Utah finds former faculty member guilty of misconduct because of “reckless disregard”

Measure by measure: Diederik Stapel count rises again, to 54

Diederik Stapel is up to 54 retractions. Here’s the notice from Self and Identity:

Imperial clears Jatinder Ahluwalia of misconduct, blames “protracted negotiation” with Novartis for delay

Imperial College London has found that a former graduate student there — who had been found guilty of misconduct in two other institutions — did not commit fraud while at Imperial. As first reported in the Times Higher Education today:

“Why Has the Number of Scientific Retractions Increased?” New study tries to answer

The title of this post is the title of a new study in PLOS ONE by three researchers whose names Retraction Watch readers may find familiar: Grant Steen, Arturo Casadevall, and Ferric Fang. Together and separately, they’ve examined retraction trends in a number of papers we’ve covered. Their new paper tries to answer a question … Continue reading “Why Has the Number of Scientific Retractions Increased?” New study tries to answer

Danish committee: Researcher acted in “scientifically dishonest” and “grossly negligent” manner

A University of Copenhagen researcher who co-authored papers with Milena Penkowa — once the subject of misconduct and embezzlement inquiries — has been found by the Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty (acronym UVVU in Danish) to have acted in a “scientifically dishonest” and “grossly negligent” manner. Two different researchers brought complaints against Bente Klarlund Pedersen … Continue reading Danish committee: Researcher acted in “scientifically dishonest” and “grossly negligent” manner

Diederik Stapel settles with Dutch prosecutors, won’t face jail time

Diederik Stapel, the former Tilburg University psychology professor who has retracted 53 papers because he made up the data, has settled with Dutch prosecutors, who began a criminal probe of his case last year. Stapel will do 120 hours of community service, and decline disability and illness benefits that would have added up to 18 … Continue reading Diederik Stapel settles with Dutch prosecutors, won’t face jail time

How well do journals publicize retractions?

A new paper in BMC Research Notes looks at the retraction class of 2008, and finds journals’ handling of them less than optimal. Evelynne Decullier and colleagues — including Hervé Maisonneuve, who was helpful to us for a recent post — found:

A partial retraction appears for former Salzburg crystallographer who admitted misconduct

A paper by a crystallographer fired from his university for misconduct has been partially retracted. Last year, we covered the case of Robert Schwarzenbacher, formerly of Salzburg University. Schwarzenbacher had provided the crystallographic data for a paper in the Journal of Immunology, but those results raised questions with another crystallographer and prompted an investigation by … Continue reading A partial retraction appears for former Salzburg crystallographer who admitted misconduct

A retraction with “serious consequences to wheat production”

Chinese researchers have had a 2012 paper in Plant Molecular Biology Reporter on genetically modified wheat retracted, in a notice that cites fraud. The article, “Isolation and Functional Characterization of an Antifreeze Protein Gene, TaAFPIII, from Wheat (Triticum aestivum),” came from the same group we wrote about in April 2012 when they retracted a paper … Continue reading A retraction with “serious consequences to wheat production”

Half of researchers have reported trouble reproducing published findings: MD Anderson survey

Readers of this blog — and anyone who has been following the Anil Potti saga — know that MD Anderson Cancer Center was the source of initial concerns about the reproducibility of the studies Potti, and his supervisor, Joseph Nevins, were publishing in high profile journals. So the Houston institution has a rep for dealing … Continue reading Half of researchers have reported trouble reproducing published findings: MD Anderson survey