Search Results for: sting

Two detailed retraction notices correct the cardiology record

Two American College of Cardiology conference abstracts published earlier this year in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) have been retracted, one because the authors were actually measuring something other than what they reported, and the other because newer software invalidated the results. Here’s the notice for “Worsening of Pre-Existing Valvulopathy With … Continue reading Two detailed retraction notices correct the cardiology record

Chopping broccoli: Researchers lose paper on florets after readers raise questions

With apologies to Dana Carvey, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters has chopped a 2012 paper on the molecular constituents of broccoli florets after readers evidently were forced to do the job of reviewers and point out fatal flaws in the study. The article, “Two novel bioactive glucosinolates from Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) florets,” … Continue reading Chopping broccoli: Researchers lose paper on florets after readers raise questions

No, math prof, Google isn’t a proper literature search (and don’t plagiarize your dead mentor)

Sometimes, it’s easiest and most straightforward if we just let retraction notices sink in before we comment on them. Take this one from Semigroup Forum, signed by Chong-yih Wu of National Pingtung Institute of Commerce, Pingtung, Taiwan:

Retraction for authors of muscle paper who lifted data from their own 18-year-old article

For the second time in a week, we’ve seen a journal retract a paper because it duplicated something in its own archive. Yesterday, it was a case of plagiarism in a plant journal. Today, we find that the Journal of Anatomy has retracted an article it published earlier this year by a group of Slovenian … Continue reading Retraction for authors of muscle paper who lifted data from their own 18-year-old article

Retraction for stem cell scientist facing misconduct inquiry

Here’s a retraction from Stem Cells and Development that we’re just now getting around to covering. The paper, “Non-viral reprogramming of skeletal myoblasts with valproic acid for pluripotency,” appeared in June 2012 in a preliminary online form and was written by a group at the University of Cincinnati. As the retraction notice states:

PubMed now allows comments on abstracts — but only by a select few

PubMed today launches a pilot version of PubMed Commons, a system that enables researchers to share their opinions about scientific publications. Researchers can comment on any publication indexed by PubMed, and read the comments of others. In general, we’re big fans of post-publication peer review, as Retraction Watch readers know. Once it’s out of its … Continue reading PubMed now allows comments on abstracts — but only by a select few

Italian cancer specialist facing criminal investigation for misconduct

A leading Neapolitan cancer researcher is under criminal investigation for fraud, the Italian press is reporting. Although we have only rough translations of the story, it seems the researcher, Alfredo Fusco, of the National Council of Research’s Institute of Experimental Endocrinology and Oncology, has been accused of manipulating images in published studies and to strengthen … Continue reading Italian cancer specialist facing criminal investigation for misconduct

Researcher who threatened Retraction Watch with lawsuit corrects funding source for several papers

Ariel Fernandez, an Argentine chemist (who claims to hold the fastest-awarded PhD from Yale) and the subject of institutional investigations at multiple universities, has corrected several papers recently. What makes the moves particularly unusual — and interesting — is the stated reason for the amendments: disclaiming any funding from the National Institutes of Health for … Continue reading Researcher who threatened Retraction Watch with lawsuit corrects funding source for several papers

Science reporter spoofs hundreds of open access journals with fake papers

Alan Sokal’s influence has certainly been felt strongly recently. Last month, a critique by Sokal — who in 1996 got a fake paper published in Social Text — and two colleagues forced a correction of a much-ballyhooed psychology paper.  A few days after that, we reported on a Serbian Sokal hoax-like paper whose authors cited the scholarly … Continue reading Science reporter spoofs hundreds of open access journals with fake papers

Saudi journal retracts paper on new chemicals for being, well, not new

Irony alert: If you’re going to publish a paper on purportedly new molecules, please try to make sure those substances are indeed novel. Here’s case were that wasn’t quite so. The Journal of Saudi Chemical Society has retracted a 2011 paper by a researcher who lifted the entire article from a previously published paper by … Continue reading Saudi journal retracts paper on new chemicals for being, well, not new