Search Results for: nature

Two crystallography papers break apart for “trivial errors,” says author

Biophysicists in India have retracted two crystallography papers describing protein binding sites following “concerns,” according to one retraction note. The last author on both papers, however, told us he believed the retractions were the result of “trivial errors.” Although one journal praised him in its retraction note for his “positive engagement,” he said the process left him feeling … Continue reading Two crystallography papers break apart for “trivial errors,” says author

New York Times says it “would not have assigned” elephant article to writer had they known of conflict

Although we nearly always stick to covering the scientific literature, we sometimes write about cases in other media that shed light on how different outlets correct the record. This is one of those times. The New York Times issued an editor’s note and correction last week to a June 26 article about Happy the elephant, … Continue reading New York Times says it “would not have assigned” elephant article to writer had they known of conflict

30+ papers flagged because editors may have “subverted the peer review process” with fake accounts

In what has become a familiar story, another publisher has found more than 30 papers that appear to have been accepted and published based on fake peer reviews. Hindawi, publisher of more than 400 journals, is having 32 papers re-reviewed after an investigation …identified three Editors who appear to have subverted the peer review process … Continue reading 30+ papers flagged because editors may have “subverted the peer review process” with fake accounts

Weekend reads: Is failing to share data misconduct?; worst journal ever; Elsevier boycott

The big news this week at Retraction Watch was the release of more than two dozen retractions for accounting researcher James Hunton, and the sentencing of Dong-Pyou Han for scientific fraud (see more below). Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Corrections (and one EoC) propagate for distinguished plant biologist, Olivier Voinnet

There may be some deeply rooted issues in the work of high-profile plant biologist Olivier Voinnet, biology department research director at ETH in Zurich. Corrections have continued to pile up months after his work was hit with a barrage of criticism on PubPeer. We’ve tracked a total of seven corrections over the past five months (not including … Continue reading Corrections (and one EoC) propagate for distinguished plant biologist, Olivier Voinnet

JBC cancer paper felled by duplication is one author’s second retraction this month

A 2002 paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry on how lung cancer cells resist death has been retracted for duplicating figures from a 2001 paper. The retracted paper, “Fibroblast growth factor-2 induces translational regulation of Bcl-XL and Bcl-2 via a MEK-dependent pathway: correlation with resistance to etoposide-induced apoptosis,” shares the first and last authors … Continue reading JBC cancer paper felled by duplication is one author’s second retraction this month

Weekend reads: LaCour loses job offer; new Science data guidelines; Macchiarini grant funding frozen

This week at Retraction Watch saw us report on thousands of retractions from IEEE, which will have a serious effect on retraction record-keeping, a bizarre case of author impersonation, and a look at dentistry in outer space. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Oncogene to retract breast cancer paper following years-old misconduct investigation

Oncogene is retracting a 2010 paper on the molecular details of breast cancer cells as they undergo metastasis following an investigation that discovered the first author had committed misconduct. The thing is, the investigation concluded in 2012, and the paper — “miR-661 expression in SNAI1-induced epithelial to mesenchymal transition contributes to breast cancer cell invasion … Continue reading Oncogene to retract breast cancer paper following years-old misconduct investigation

Beekeeper association stung by retraction after posting accusations about major honey processor

The American Honey Producers Association has apparently retracted an online article that said Honey Holding — a.k.a Honey Solutions, an industrial honey processor — had been charged with tax evasion and illegally selling Chinese honey containing corn syrup and sugar. According to the note: AHPA has removed the article from its website, and is correcting and … Continue reading Beekeeper association stung by retraction after posting accusations about major honey processor

“Proven plagiarism” extracts paper on keeping teeth healthy in outer space

Aeronautic dentistry seems like a fairly unique field, but a review article about keeping teeth healthy in outer space has been retracted from the International Journal of Stomatology & Occlusion Medicine for not being quite unique enough. “Aeronautic dentistry: an upcoming branch,” a review article, appears to have lifted pieces of other works “verbatim and without … Continue reading “Proven plagiarism” extracts paper on keeping teeth healthy in outer space