Search Results for: compromised peer review

Cell attributes image problems in cloning paper to “minor” errors; sees no impact on conclusions

Yesterday we reported that Cell was looking into problematic images in a recent paper on human embryonic stem cell cloning. We’ve now heard from the journal about the nature of the inquiry. Mary Beth O’Leary, a spokeswoman for Cell Press — an Elsevier title — tells us that: Based on our own initial in-house assessment … Continue reading Cell attributes image problems in cloning paper to “minor” errors; sees no impact on conclusions

Lack of conflict of interest disclosure undoes scoliosis study

The journal Scoliosis has retracted a 2012 paper by a pair of German spine doctors over what the editors have called a less-than-fully declared conflict of interest involving one of the authors. That should be relatively straigtforward – but it’s not quite. Turns out the article does include a disclosure, although perhaps the information it … Continue reading Lack of conflict of interest disclosure undoes scoliosis study

University of Wisconsin neuroscientist faked data in two papers: ORI

A University of Wisconsin neuroscience researcher falsified “Western blot images as well as quantitative and statistical data” in two NIH-supported papers and three unfunded grant applications, the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has found. As first reported by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and then The Scientist, Rao M. Adibhatla has agreed to retract the two … Continue reading University of Wisconsin neuroscientist faked data in two papers: ORI

A pair of expressions of concern in PLOS ONE over vet science papers

PLoS ONE has issued two Expressions of Concern on unrelated studies, each of which offers plenty to be concerned about — and not just about the research itself. One is a casualty of our old friend,  Jesús Lemus, the Spanish veterinary scientist accused of fabricating his data. The article, titled “The PHA-Skin Test Reflects Acquired … Continue reading A pair of expressions of concern in PLOS ONE over vet science papers

Group retracts microRNA paper after realizing reagent was skewing results

A retraction from a high-profile group uncovered a technical limitation involving a widely used reagent. Some quick background: the sequence hypothesis central hypothesis dogma of biology states that DNA gets transcribed to RNA that gets translated into proteins. Some RNAs, however, don’t code for proteins, but instead help to regulate gene expression. These microRNAs are tiny … Continue reading Group retracts microRNA paper after realizing reagent was skewing results

Whistleblower forces retractions of four stem cell papers amid questions about more than a dozen studies

In a case that is a good reminder of why journal editors shouldn’t ignore anonymous tips, a Seoul National University stem cell researcher has been forced to retract four papers, and withdraw another under peer review, in Antioxidants & Redox Signaling following a whistleblower’s exhaustive analysis. Two retractions by Soo Kyung Kang, a professor of … Continue reading Whistleblower forces retractions of four stem cell papers amid questions about more than a dozen studies

How should authors mark retracted papers on their CVs? Compare a chronic Lyme doctor with one from the Mayo

Soon after Retraction Watch launched, one of our readers posed an important question: How should researchers note that their papers have been retracted? The question is important mostly for transparency reasons. (We’ve also wondered, however, whether authors whose papers have been retracted because of journal office errors should be forced to list those.) Should they … Continue reading How should authors mark retracted papers on their CVs? Compare a chronic Lyme doctor with one from the Mayo

Top German anesthesiologist’s cardiac surgery paper retracted over “very serious misrepresentations”

Self-plagiarism alert: A very similar version of this post is being published online in Anesthesiology News, where one of us (AM) is managing editor. A leading German anesthesiologist with more than 200 papers to his name has been accused of misrepresenting critical aspects of a paper  — possibly including the data itself — published late … Continue reading Top German anesthesiologist’s cardiac surgery paper retracted over “very serious misrepresentations”