The journal Ecotoxicology has retracted a paper that described a way to analyze nitrates in groundwater after discovering the authors had lifted a substantial amount of material from three other papers. Here is the retraction notice for “Isotopic analysis of N and O in NO3 – by selective bacterial reduction to N2O for groundwater pollution:”
A journal has retracted a paper about 3D imaging after concluding the authors used equations from another researcher without attribution — and has conveniently included a detailed editorial explaining exactly what happened. It’s rare for us to see a journal be so transparent in explaining what went wrong with one of its papers, so we’re thanking … Continue reading Now this is transparent: Retraction for plagiarism earns 4-page editor’s note
A report that presents guidelines for treating people allegedly harmed by signals from Wi-Fi and mobile phones was pulled two weeks after publication for plagiarism. However, the retraction note, published in the March issue of Reviews on Environmental Health, doesn’t use the word “plagiarism,” and instead blames the move on lost citations and errors. The editor of the journal, David Carpenter, told us … Continue reading “A big mistake:” Paper about the dangers of Wi-Fi pulled for plagiarism
An education journal is pulling a 2014 paper about how US funding partnerships in Africa could alleviate local poverty, after the author admitted to mistakenly lifting sentences from work presented at a 2012 conference. Author Christopher S. Collins at Azusa Pacific University took full responsibility for the plagiarism, and told us he suggested the journal retract the paper — but … Continue reading Mistaken plagiarism? Journal retracts education paper that inadvertently included others’ work
A medical journal has banned eight authors after discovering that they had published plagiarized work. We don’t see official author bans as often as we see plagiarism (occasionally, and all the time, respectively). That’s why we’re flagging this case, which is a little old — the International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health announced the ban in March 2015, … Continue reading Journal bans 8 authors for plagiarism
An article that suggested there is no benefit to being overweight among cancer survivors – the so-called “obesity paradox” – is being retracted for plagiarizing large sections from another paper that explored the same topic in cardiovascular disease. The journal Cancer Causes & Control pulled the 2014 article last June after determining it contained “large … Continue reading Paper on alleged – and paradoxical – health benefits of obesity pulled for plagiarism
Why do so many PhD students publishing their medical theses in German resort to brazen plagiarism, even copying from people in their own research groups? We’re pleased to present a Q&A with Debora Weber-Wulff, based at the University of Applied Sciences HTW Berlin in Germany. She recently published a case study for the Council of … Continue reading Why plagiarism is such a problem for German PhDs: Q&A with Debora Weber-Wulff
Remember when we recently found PLOS ONE had published two papers with “substantial overlap” from two different groups, that were edited around the same time? Well, we have discovered another similarly perplexing case of plagiarism in two studies published only months apart. But in this instance, we have a possible explanation for how two groups of … Continue reading Another case of plagiarism in papers published only months apart
A faculty member at Arizona State University has resigned after he was placed on administrative leave while the university investigated plagiarism charges against him. According to a copy of the settlement agreement obtained by the Arizona Republic, he will continue to receive his salary of more than $150,000 for more than one year. He will also be … Continue reading ASU prof resigns following plagiarism charges, receives $150k+ salary until May 2017
The week at Retraction Watch featured the retraction of an entire issue of a journal and a renewable energy researcher agree to retract ten papers for recycling, and saw The Australian put us on its list of “30 Most Influential” in higher education for 2016. Here’s what was happening elsewhere: