Clone call for bird gene bar-coding paper

A group of bird researchers in Korea has lost their 2006 paper on DNA barcoding of that country’s avian species because they feathered the article with material from others. The paper, “DNA barcoding Korean birds,” appeared in Molecules and Cells, published by Springer for the Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology and has been … Continue reading Clone call for bird gene bar-coding paper

“Protracted and unresolved authors dispute” and “striking similarities” lead to two retractions

It’s been a busy month for retractions at the Pan African Medical Journal (PAMJ) — dedicated to “Better health through knowledge sharing and information dissemination.” The journal has retracted a 2013 article by a group from Bangalore, India, for plagiarism. And unlike the authors, the editors didn’t mince words. The paper, “Detection of ESBL among … Continue reading “Protracted and unresolved authors dispute” and “striking similarities” lead to two retractions

Weekend reads: MIT professor accused of fraud, biologist who retracted paper suspended, and more

Another busy week at Retraction Watch, featuring lots of snow at HQ and a trip to take part in a conference in Davis, California. Here’s what was happening elsewhere on the web:

Weekend reads: Seralini GMO-rat study retraction aftershocks; NEJM investigates conflicts of interest

Another busy week at Retraction Watch. Here’s a sampling of items about scientific publishing, research misconduct, and related issues from around the web:

Bone-headed move? Authors of cancer-skeleton paper copy from paper in same journal

Climacteric is retracting a 2013 article by a group of researchers in Seoul who used data from a paper by another duo of Korean scientists also published in, you guessed it, Climacteric. The paper, “Different bone mineral density in cervical and endometrial cancer,” came from a group of  Soonchunhyang University and was published online late last … Continue reading Bone-headed move? Authors of cancer-skeleton paper copy from paper in same journal

DMCA notice forces removal of post critical of author who threatened to sue Retraction Watch

A blog post at another site that picked up on our coverage of Benjamin Jacob Hayempour, the researcher who has two retractions and has threatened to sue us, has been removed following a Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice. As Andrew Oh-Willkie, the blogger, writes in an account of the incident:

Weekend reads: One researcher resents “cyberbullying” while another wishes peer reviewers would spank him

Another busy week at Retraction Watch. Here’s what was going on around the web in scientific publishing and related issues: “The part of our paper that I [Conley] regret is our crazy biological interpretation. I don’t know what I was thinking or why reviewers didn’t spank me on that…” A wonderfully honest quote from a … Continue reading Weekend reads: One researcher resents “cyberbullying” while another wishes peer reviewers would spank him

Heads up: “Borrowing” your student’s work will earn you a partial retraction — and a five-year publishing ban

We have a curious case for the “avoiding the p word” files from the Journal of East Asia & International Law. The paper in question, “Border Enforcement of Plant Variety Rights: A Comparison between Japan and Taiwan,” was written by Shun-liang Hsu and appeared in the Spring 2012 issue of the journal. Here are the … Continue reading Heads up: “Borrowing” your student’s work will earn you a partial retraction — and a five-year publishing ban

Film review by noted critic a rerun, retracted

Many devotees of French film consider Jean Renoir’s 1939 La Règle du jeu (The Rules of the Game) to be the best example of the genre, and indeed of movie making writ large. Bad cut alert: One of the rules of the publishing game is, “ne pas plagier,” which we don’t think we need to … Continue reading Film review by noted critic a rerun, retracted

A rating system for retractions? How various journals stack up

Here at Retraction Watch, we judge retraction notices every day. We even have a category called “unhelpful retraction notices.” But we haven’t systematically analyzed those notices, so lucky for us, a group of academics at Vanderbilt decided to. In a new paper published in a special issue of Publications — an issue whose editor, Grant … Continue reading A rating system for retractions? How various journals stack up