Search Results for: nature

Danish neuroscientist sentenced by court for lying about faked experiments

In a rare development, neuroscientist Milena Penkowa has been sentenced by a Danish court for faking data. The ruling, from the Copenhagen City Court, resulted from Penkowa’s publication of her 2003 thesis describing experiments that she never carried out. The court “placed weight” on the fact that she didn’t just commit fraud, but “systematically supplied false information” to avoid … Continue reading Danish neuroscientist sentenced by court for lying about faked experiments

Weekend reads: STAP saga over once and for all?; plagiarizing prof gets tenure

The week at Retraction Watch featured the appeal of a modern-day retraction, and a look at whether a retraction by a Nobel Prize winner should be retracted 50 years later. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Weekend reads: Journal invents time machine; endless author lists; is nuance overrated?

The week at Retraction Watch featured the unmasking of the people behind PubPeer, and an editor doing the right thing following a high-profile retraction. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Investigation leads to retraction of breast cancer paper, second for one author

The authors of a Journal of Biological Chemistry paper on a breast cancer gene are withdrawing it following an investigation at Roswell Park Cancer Institute that found a figure contained “manipulated” data. Last author Toru Ouchi is based at Roswell in the department of cancer genetics. Second to last author Sam W. Lee, at Massachusetts General Hospital, … Continue reading Investigation leads to retraction of breast cancer paper, second for one author

“Whoops.” Paper cites retracted gay canvassing paper — but blame me, says journal editor

By now, most Retraction Watch readers are likely familiar with the retraction in May of a much-ballyhooed study in Science on whether gay canvassers could persuade people to agree with same-sex marriage. It turns out that before that retraction appeared, a different study that cited the Science paper made its way online. Kenneth Zucker, the editor … Continue reading “Whoops.” Paper cites retracted gay canvassing paper — but blame me, says journal editor

Stem cell researcher Jacob Hanna’s correction count updated to 10

Thanks to some eagle-eyed readers, we’ve been alerted to some corrections for high profile stem cell scientist Jacob Hanna that we had missed, bringing our count to one retraction and 13 errata on 10 papers. The problems in the work range from duplications of images, to inadvertent deletions in figures, to failures by his co-authors to disclose … Continue reading Stem cell researcher Jacob Hanna’s correction count updated to 10

NSF investigation of high-profile plant retractions ends in two debarments

A nearly ten-year-long series of investigations into a pair of plant physiologists who received millions in funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation has resulted in debarments of less than two years for each of the researchers. The NSF Office of Inspector General recently posted its close-out report on its decision and a review of … Continue reading NSF investigation of high-profile plant retractions ends in two debarments

Retraction of grizzly bear-diabetes study follows departure of Amgen scientist for data manipulation

A study that looked to hibernating bears to understand the mechanisms behind diabetes has been retracted because an author based at the biotech company Amgen “manipulated specific experimental data” in two figures. According to the The Wall Street Journal, Amgen discovered the manipulation while reviewing the data following publication of the paper,”Grizzly bears exhibit augmented insulin sensitivity while obese prior to … Continue reading Retraction of grizzly bear-diabetes study follows departure of Amgen scientist for data manipulation