A paper that caught flak for its claims that an ancient city in the Middle East was destroyed by an exploding celestial body – and the authors’ suggestion that the event could have inspired the Biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah – now has an editor’s note acknowledging the journal is looking into concerns about … Continue reading Journal investigating Sodom comet paper for data problems
Citing an investigation by Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, two journals last week retracted five articles by Edward Whang, an associate professor of surgery at the school. The journals, Oncogene and Surgery, both refer to problems with images of Western blots that could not be resolved because “no underlying research data” were … Continue reading Harvard surgeon has five papers pulled following internal investigation
Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to 289. There are more than 38,000 retractions in our database — which powers retraction alerts in EndNote, LibKey, Papers, and Zotero. And have you seen our leaderboard of authors with the most retractions lately — or … Continue reading Weekend reads: Autism researcher up to 24 retractions; former prof sues Penn State; vice chancellor under criminal probe for plagiarism
Two papers coauthored by a computer scientist whose work on visual effects has been credited in big-name Hollywood movies will soon be retracted after a publisher’s investigation found falsification of data in the articles. Retraction Watch has also learned that the University of Southern California (USC) found that Hao Li “falsely presented his research” in … Continue reading Exclusive: Deepfake pioneer to lose two papers after misconduct finding of faked data
A key paper linking use of talc-based baby powder to cancer contains fraudulent information, according to a new complaint against an author of the article who has testified on behalf of plaintiffs. A judge had previously allowed the release of a document confirming the identity of one of the patients in the article, who had … Continue reading J&J subsidiary alleges fraud in paper that linked cosmetic talc with mesothelioma
An oral surgeon in Japan falsified images in several papers, granted authorship to whomever he saw fit and stored experimental data sloppily, according to an investigation by Showa University in Tokyo, where the physician was a lecturer at the time of the misconduct. As a result of the findings, the university has recommended retracting eight … Continue reading Japanese university asks surgeon to retract eight ‘fraudulent’ papers
The University of Zurich in Switzerland has announced that it will open an investigation into an adjunct professor alleged to have taken images and other material from a popular blog on medieval manuscripts and published them in her book without attribution. The news, first reported by kath.ch, follows an eyebrow-raising exchange between the researcher who … Continue reading University to investigate adjunct professor after allegations of plagiarism – and legal threats
A microbiology research group at the University of Hong Kong lost five papers for image duplication in late October, weeks after other scientists published a critique in Retraction Watch of one of the group’s COVID-19 articles. The paper on COVID-19 was published in Cell in 2021 and was led by Patrick Chiu Yat Woo and … Continue reading Researchers lost five papers soon after scientists critiqued another of their papers in Retraction Watch
The authors of a 2021 paper on a method of male enhancement have been forced to retract the paper after losing a legal battle over the technology. At the heart (er, groin?) of the matter is a dispute over the ownership of a penile implant. According to court documents, James Elist, a urologist in Beverly … Continue reading Contempt judgment in penile implant spat leads to retraction
Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Our list of retracted or withdrawn COVID-19 papers is up to 279. There are more than 37,000 retractions in our database — which powers retraction alerts in EndNote, LibKey, Papers, and Zotero. And have you seen our leaderboard of authors with the most … Continue reading Weekend reads: Fringe race science and journals; flags for Stanford president’s papers; rise and fall of peer review