First author of recently retracted paper has another corrected, in J Ag Food Chem

A paper that shares a first author with a paper retracted in December has been corrected. Late last year, we reported on a retraction in Antioxidants & Redox Signaling (ARDS) by Indika Edirisinghe, who was at the University of Rochester when the original paper was published, and colleagues. On January 17, the Journal of Agricultural … Continue reading First author of recently retracted paper has another corrected, in J Ag Food Chem

“Unreliable” findings fell TB gene study in PLOS ONE

Here’s a nice example of how science should work. A team of Swiss microbiologists has retracted their 2012 paper in PLoS One on the genetics of the TB mycobacterium after learning that the fusion protein they thought they’d used in their study was in fact a different molecule. Here’s the retraction notice for the article, … Continue reading “Unreliable” findings fell TB gene study in PLOS ONE

C-section study retracted for being a twin

A group of surgeons in Cairo, Egypt have retracted their 2012 paper in the International Journal of Women’s Health for plagiarism, although that’s not quite what they’re calling it. Here’s the notice:

Salami slicing in pork research leads to retractions

We get accused of grabbing at cheap puns around here, but the headline above is meant to be taken straight up. Three journals in the food sciences are retracting a trio of papers published last year on bacterial contamination in pork products because the articles used the same data sets — a classic (Platonic?) case … Continue reading Salami slicing in pork research leads to retractions

Correction for MD Anderson’s Aggarwal, cancer researcher whose work is under investigation

Bharat Aggarwal, the highly cited MD Anderson Cancer Center researcher who has confirmed to us that his work is under investigation by the institution, has a correction of his work in the Journal of Molecular Medicine. Troubled images are to blame — as they have been in previous retractions, and at least one other correction, … Continue reading Correction for MD Anderson’s Aggarwal, cancer researcher whose work is under investigation

Plague paper partially retracted

Partial retractions — as opposed corrections or the full monty —  are unusual events in scientific publishing. But they appear to come in twos. The journal Infection and Immunity, the work of whose editor, Ferric Fang, is much admired by this blog, has a fascinating example of the breed in its February issue. The article … Continue reading Plague paper partially retracted

Stapel retraction count rises to 38

Diederik Stapel’s 35th through 38th retractions have appeared, all in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Two of the notices — for “The self salience model of other-to-self effects: Integrating principles of self-enhancement, complementarity, and imitation” (cited 31 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge) and “Distinguishing stereotype threat from priming effects: On … Continue reading Stapel retraction count rises to 38

Are men more likely to commit scientific fraud?

Regular Retraction Watch readers may have noticed that many of the people whose fraud we write about are men. Certainly, the top retraction earners — Yoshitaka Fujii, Joachim Boldt, Diederik Stapel, and Naoki Mori, to name a few — all have a Y chromosome. But that doesn’t necessarily mean our sample size is representative. Now … Continue reading Are men more likely to commit scientific fraud?

Note to authors: Please don’t use the word “novel” when you plagiarize

Retraction Watch Rule 5.1, which governs ironic article titles (and does not actually exist), clearly states that researchers who plagiarize should avoid the use of words like “new” or “novel” when describing their research (or lack thereof). Failure to adhere to Rule 5.1 can lead to embarrassment — as in the case below. A pair … Continue reading Note to authors: Please don’t use the word “novel” when you plagiarize

Chemical engineer apologizes for “deliberate lapse,” retracts two papers from Croatian journal

A professor of chemical engineering in India has retracted two papers after what he called a “deliberate lapse” of submitting the work without the knowledge of his co-author. The two papers by Kailas L. Wasewar, then an associate professor in the Chemical Engineering department of Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology in Nagpur, India — he … Continue reading Chemical engineer apologizes for “deliberate lapse,” retracts two papers from Croatian journal