Search Results for: compromised peer review

Journals retract two heart papers with “nearly identical” abstracts

Journals have retracted two papers after realizing that they contain “nearly identical” abstracts and introductions, published only months apart.  The two retracted papers, along with a third that also contains similar text, all conclude that a certain polymorphism could signal a risk for coronary artery disease among Chinese people, though each paper presents different data. … Continue reading Journals retract two heart papers with “nearly identical” abstracts

What happens before a retraction? A behind-the-scenes look from COPE

Ever wonder how editors figure out whether a paper should be corrected, retracted, or left as-is? For a window into that crucial decision-making process, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) publishes a number of anonymized cases per year, in which they weigh in on a dilemma faced by a journal editor. The organization has weighed … Continue reading What happens before a retraction? A behind-the-scenes look from COPE

Voinnet retracts highly cited paper, bringing his total to 7

Olivier Voinnet, a well-known plant scientist at the ETH in Zurich, has notched his 7th retraction for a highly cited paper. The 2003 paper was pulled when “additional image manipulations” came to light after The Plant Journal issued a correction earlier this year. The retraction follows an investigation into — and then retraction of — several other papers co-authored by Voinnet. The … Continue reading Voinnet retracts highly cited paper, bringing his total to 7

EMBO investigation yields two more retractions and three corrections for Voinnet

An investigation into the work of Olivier Voinnet by The EMBO Journal has led to another two retractions and three more corrections for the high-profile plant scientist, now suspended from the CNRS for two years. According to the authors, Voinnet was responsible for some of the errors; all papers have been questioned on PubPeer. The EMBO J, … Continue reading EMBO investigation yields two more retractions and three corrections for Voinnet

Stem cell researchers sue Harvard, claiming faulty investigation lost them job offers

Piero Anversa, a stem cell researcher at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and a colleague, Annarosa Leri, have sued Harvard over an investigation into their work that they claim has cost them millions in a forfeited sale of their company, and job offers. The team has had a paper in Circulation retracted, and a paper in … Continue reading Stem cell researchers sue Harvard, claiming faulty investigation lost them job offers

Journal makes it official, retracting controversial autism-vaccine paper

A little more than a month after removing a highly criticized article that claimed the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine increased the risk of autism in African American boys, Translational Neurodegeneration has officially retracted the paper. Here’s the notice, dated yesterday:

Education researchers retract paper for differences in “positionality”

Here’s an odd one from the University of Western Australia’s education journal, Education Research and Perspectives: A paper was retracted at the request of the authors, both UWA professors, because the participants “may have differed significantly from others in terms of their positionality,” whatever that means. Here’s the notice:

Braggadacio, information control, and fear: Life inside a Brigham stem cell lab under investigation

The following post was written by a former research fellow in the lab of Piero Anversa to whom we’ve promised confidentiality. Anversa has previously told us that he cannot comment because of an ongoing investigation. Regular readers of Retraction Watch will note the recent news regarding the work conducted in the laboratory of Piero Anversa … Continue reading Braggadacio, information control, and fear: Life inside a Brigham stem cell lab under investigation