Search Results for: nature

Cancer researcher contributed “false data” to 11 studies

A former cancer researcher has falsified data in 11 studies, according to the results of a investigation scheduled to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow. The Office of Research Integrity’s findings are based on an inquiry at Virginia Commonwealth University, where Girija Dasmahapatra worked until July of this year, investigating possible therapies for cancer. The … Continue reading Cancer researcher contributed “false data” to 11 studies

We’re wasting a lot of research funding using the wrong cell lines. Here’s one thing we can do.

If you could help reduce the waste of tens of billions of dollars per year in research spending, you’d do it, right? This is the second in a series of two guest posts about the havoc misidentified cell lines can wreak on research, from Leonard P. Freedman, president of the Global Biological Standards Institute. Freedman who … Continue reading We’re wasting a lot of research funding using the wrong cell lines. Here’s one thing we can do.

Hundreds of researchers are using the wrong cells. That’s a major problem.

What if we told you that approximately 1 in 6 researchers working with human cells are using the wrong cell line? In other words, they believe they are studying the effects of a drug on breast cancer cells, for instance, but what they really have are cells from the bladder. That is the unfortunate reality … Continue reading Hundreds of researchers are using the wrong cells. That’s a major problem.

Paper claiming extra CO2 doesn’t always lower plant nutrients pulled for errors

Authors have retracted a large meta-analysis claiming that rising levels of carbon dioxide don’t always reduce nutrients in plants. After commenters on PubPeer raised concerns, the authors say they found several unintentional errors in their data that could “significantly change conclusions” of the paper in Plant Ecology, according to the retraction note. The paper found that the impact … Continue reading Paper claiming extra CO2 doesn’t always lower plant nutrients pulled for errors

Correction changes results about genetics of neurological disorder

A paper on the genetics underlying a common neurological disorder has issued a correction that influences the results of the paper. “Genetic Diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease in a Population by Next-Generation Sequencing” was published in BioMed Research International, and looked at 81 families with the disease. The researchers identified mutations that might be connected to the … Continue reading Correction changes results about genetics of neurological disorder

Chemists pull non-reproducible paper on method to make opal films

When two chemists based in China couldn’t reproduce experiments in their paper on opal films, they retracted it. As the retraction note explains: In this article we report a method to fabricate 2D TiO2–WO3 composite inverse opal films via a mechanical co-assembly route with a template of polystyrene spheres. Upon repeating the experiments described, we found that this … Continue reading Chemists pull non-reproducible paper on method to make opal films

Weekend reads: Criminal charges for plagiarism; NFL scientific interference; the authorship explosion

The week at Retraction Watch featured a move by the Journal of Biological Chemistry that we’re applauding, a retraction by a high-profile nutrition researcher, and an announcement about a new partnership to create a retraction database. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Investigation finds data issues polluted air quality paper

An investigation at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia has found that a paper on air pollution and human health contains a host of issues with the data and its analysis. The paper has been retracted with a very detailed note from Environmental Research. The issues with the paper include an “incorrect analysis of the data,” and its failure to … Continue reading Investigation finds data issues polluted air quality paper

Prominent nutrition researcher Marion Nestle retracting recent article

Prominent nutrition expert Marion Nestle is pulling an opinion piece she recently co-authored in the Journal of Public Health Policy following revelations that the piece contained multiple factual errors and failed to reveal her co-author’s ties to one of the subjects of the article. The article, “The food industry and conflicts of interest in nutrition research: A … Continue reading Prominent nutrition researcher Marion Nestle retracting recent article