Search Results for: sting

Misconduct earns researcher a five-year ban on federal funding

A University of Minnesota former chemistry graduate student has been banned from receiving federal funding for five years based on “a preponderance of the evidence that the Respondent intentionally and knowingly engaged in research misconduct.” Venkata J. Reddy appears to have manipulated findings in one R01 grant application. In recent years, bans are less common than having … Continue reading Misconduct earns researcher a five-year ban on federal funding

It’s a man’s world — for one peer reviewer, at least

We’ve written quite a lot about the perks and pitfalls of the peer review system, but one thing we never really touched on was the risk that a reviewer might be … well, not to put too fine a point on it: a dope. But Fiona Ingleby can speak to that. Ingleby, a postdoc in … Continue reading It’s a man’s world — for one peer reviewer, at least

When should a paper be retracted? A tale from the obesity literature

In our line of work, we see it all — mega-corrections that don’t quite rise to the level of retraction, letters to the editor that point out seemingly fatal flaws in papers that remain untouched, and studies retracted for what seem like minor reasons. It can make you wonder what makes a paper worthy of … Continue reading When should a paper be retracted? A tale from the obesity literature

Does peer review ferret out the best science? New study tries to answer

Grant reviewers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health are doing a pretty good job of spotting the best proposals and ranking them appropriately, according to a new study in Science out today. Danielle Li at Harvard and Leila Agha at Boston University found that grant proposals that earn good scores lead to research that … Continue reading Does peer review ferret out the best science? New study tries to answer

Use of data “without permission,” bad authors list, and hidden funding sink mol bio paper

A Chinese researcher has lost a paper after the journal discovered he published others’ research without permission and lied about the grant funding he used for the work. Yihang Shen published a paper using his PhD research on the molecular biology of fetal rodent livers earlier this year in DNA and Cell Biology. Unfortunately, he didn’t have permission to … Continue reading Use of data “without permission,” bad authors list, and hidden funding sink mol bio paper

Beleaguered Förster turns down prestigious professorship, citing personal toll

Jens Förster, a social scientist accused of research misconduct, has turned down a highly coveted — and well-endowed — professorship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Foster explained his decision to decline the 5 million Euro award in a post on his personal website:

Former postdoc suing lab head for publishing paper he says he wrote, without his name

A pharmaceutical researcher is suing his postdoctoral advisor and former business partner, accusing him of publishing a paper in PLoS Biology they wrote together, and removing him as an author. According to the complaint, Andrew Mallon and John Marshall co-founded a company, Ardane Therapeutic, to commercialize a potential therapy that Mallon discovered for Angelman Sydrome, a … Continue reading Former postdoc suing lab head for publishing paper he says he wrote, without his name

Weekend reads: Aussie scientists bend rules; how to fix peer review once and for all; crazy structure alert

The week at Retraction Watch featured the retraction of 11 papers by a controversial researcher in Italy, and a look at the controversy over lead in the water supply. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Teflon toxicity paper fails to stick

An advanced online paper on prenatal toxicity of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), an industrial chemical used to make waterproof coatings and Teflon, is being retracted due to “some minor errors.” High blood levels of PFOA have been tied to kidney disease in humans, as well as several cancers in animal models. The majority of the U.S. … Continue reading Teflon toxicity paper fails to stick

Expression of concern opens floodgates of controversy over lead in water supply

An expression of concern has been published on a paper that taps into a decades-long fight over how to remove lead from the water supply. The paper in question, published in the Journal American Water Works Association, supports the safety of a common but frequently criticized way of incrementally removing lead pipes. The expression of concern came after years of … Continue reading Expression of concern opens floodgates of controversy over lead in water supply