Search Results for: medical

NUS: Melendez committed “serious scientific misconduct,” but don’t expect to get any details

Alirio Melendez, a former National University of Singapore immunologist whose story we’ve been following here since a retraction in September of last year, committed misconduct on an “unprecedented” scale, according to the university, involving more than 20 papers. Nature’s Richard van Noorden has the scoop: After a 19-month investigation, the National University of Singapore (NUS) … Continue reading NUS: Melendez committed “serious scientific misconduct,” but don’t expect to get any details

Concern — in triplicate — arrives for Poldermans papers

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, or JACC, has issued expressions of concern for three papers by Don Poldermans, the Dutch cardiologist who was fired earlier this year amid allegations of misconduct. Cardiobrief’s Larry Husten had the story first. The, um, heart of the matter is that neither the investigators at Erasmus Medical … Continue reading Concern — in triplicate — arrives for Poldermans papers

How is Elsevier promoting ethical publishing? A guest post

As Retraction Watch readers know, we cover Elsevier’s journals frequently, including a story just last week about their peer review system being hacked.  And they’ve written about us, too. So we’re pleased to present a guest post by Elsevier’s Linda Lavelle, General Counsel-North America, about the publisher’s take on plagiarism and other unethical behavior — … Continue reading How is Elsevier promoting ethical publishing? A guest post

Dental papers retracted after investigations find “issue with respect to misconduct”

Sometimes, retraction notices offer tantalizing clues, but no real information. Take the case of a paper called “Florid osseous dysplasia,” which was published last year in Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology by a group at Mumbai’s Nair Hospital Dental College and retracted recently. Here’s the notice, which is suggestive but doesn’t say much:

Another retraction for Pfizer’s experimental cancer treatment figitumumab

Last month, we brought you news that Pfizer had retracted a paper in the Journal of Clinical Oncology purporting to show a benefit of their experimental drug for lung cancer figitumumab after discovering that its clinical lead on the project had done analyses improperly. There’s been another retraction, of a related paper, in the British … Continue reading Another retraction for Pfizer’s experimental cancer treatment figitumumab

After retracted study’s cited, editors ask, “time to add scientific integrity to the downside of print on paper?”

As we — and others — have written, retracted articles don’t necessarily creep off to some little island somewhere never to be heard from again. After all, the electronic versions of about a third of retracted papers aren’t marked as retracted. Sometimes, like Napoleon, those papers return from exile to wreak havoc: They get cited … Continue reading After retracted study’s cited, editors ask, “time to add scientific integrity to the downside of print on paper?”

Two patch-clamping retractions in PNAS and the JCI after first author admits image manipulation

A group of cardiology researchers formerly of the University of Cologne has retracted two papers, after investigations into allegations of misconduct led to an admission of guilt by one of the lab’s junior members. Here’s the first retraction, for “Connexin 43 acts as a cytoprotective mediator of signal transduction by stimulating mitochondrial KATP channels in … Continue reading Two patch-clamping retractions in PNAS and the JCI after first author admits image manipulation

“Serious errors” in figures prompt concerning Neuroscience retraction

Neuroscience has retracted a 2009 paper by a team of Korean sports researchers for what appear to be figure irregularities. But the journal’s handling of the case is puzzling and unhelpful. The article, “Treadmill exercise improves cognitive function and facilitates nerve growth factor signaling by activating mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2 in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic … Continue reading “Serious errors” in figures prompt concerning Neuroscience retraction

Neuroscience paper retracted after HHMI investigation finds scientist copied images without permission

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) asked a journal to retract a paper once it became clear that some of the images in it were actually from a different HHMI lab. Here’s the notice, from the Journal of Comparative Neurology:

I will not plagiarize, I will not plagiarize, No plagiaré…: When a journal requires a public apology

This one is an oldie but a goodie. We’ve published a few accounts of what it feels like to have your work plagiarized. But often absent from accounts like that are the views of the plagiarists. So here’s one. In 2009, the Cuban Journal of Endocrinology retracted a 2000 paper by a researcher who acknowledged … Continue reading I will not plagiarize, I will not plagiarize, No plagiaré…: When a journal requires a public apology