Search Results for: nature

Journal withdraws diabetes paper written by apparently bogus authors

Talk about a Trojan Horse. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications has withdrawn a paper it published earlier this year on metabolic proteins linked to diabetes, not because the article was bogus but because the authors appear to have been. The work itself is accurate — indeed, it likely belongs to a Harvard scientist, Bruce Spiegelman, … Continue reading Journal withdraws diabetes paper written by apparently bogus authors

Big trouble in little China: Two looks at what warps scientific publishing there

The press corps has turned its attention to scientific publishing in China this week. Here’s Naomi Ching’s lede — that’s how we spell it in journalism — from Nautilus: You may have heard that Chinese researchers are not very well compensated, compared to their Western counterparts. What you might not know is that they can … Continue reading Big trouble in little China: Two looks at what warps scientific publishing there

Marc Hauser’s second chance: Leading science writers endorse his upcoming book

Yesterday, Marc Hauser, the former Harvard psychologist found by the Office of Research Integrity to have committed misconduct, tweeted that his new book, Evilicious, is coming out on October 15. An excerpt of the book, which was originally scheduled to be published by Viking/Penguin, is available at Hauser’s website. (We learned about the book in … Continue reading Marc Hauser’s second chance: Leading science writers endorse his upcoming book

Study on douches and delivery retracted for authorship issue

The Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease is retracting a paper it published online in April by a group of Egyptian researchers in the wake of a dispute they couldn’t resolve. The article, “The Patterns and Criteria of Vaginal Douching and the Risk of Preterm Labor Among Upper Egypt Women,” came from a team at … Continue reading Study on douches and delivery retracted for authorship issue

Journal retracts two papers after being caught manipulating citations

Earlier this week, in a story by Richard van Noorden, Nature revealed the hidden workings of a scheme referred to as “citation stacking” that has landed a number of journals in trouble. The story begins: Mauricio Rocha-e-Silva thought that he had spotted an easy way to raise the profiles of Brazilian journals. From 2009, he and … Continue reading Journal retracts two papers after being caught manipulating citations

Doing the right thing: Researchers retract two studies when they realize they misinterpreted data

What do you do when new experiments show that you interpreted the data from your old experiments the wrong way? Some scientists might just shrug and sweep those errors — and their previous papers — under the rug. But when it happened to Jeffery Kelly, of the Scripps Research Institute, and his colleagues, they decided … Continue reading Doing the right thing: Researchers retract two studies when they realize they misinterpreted data

Journal retracts IVF paper over data concerns

The Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics has retracted a 2010 paper by a group of Iranian researchers after concluding that the authors may have misrepresented both the nature of the study and the originality of the work. The article, “Can fresh embryo transfers be replaced by cryopreserved-thawed embryo transfers in assisted reproductive cycles? A … Continue reading Journal retracts IVF paper over data concerns

Retraction appears for Harvard scientist who had two mega-corrections last year

Sam Lee, a Harvard biologist who had two mega-corrections published last year, has retracted a paper in Molecular Cell because some of the figures were “inappropriately assembled.” Here’s the notice for “GAMT, a p53-Inducible Modulator of Apoptosis, Is Critical for the Adaptive Response to Nutrient Stress:”

Aussie university halts trials of skin cancer drug whose developer has four retractions

An Australian university has put a hold on trials of an experimental drug for skin cancer whose main developer has been dogged by charges of research misconduct for several years. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is reporting that the University of New South Wales has suspended trials of the drug, DZ13, while it investigates the work … Continue reading Aussie university halts trials of skin cancer drug whose developer has four retractions

Case Western dermatology department hit with second ORI sanction within 6 months

The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has sanctioned an assistant professor of dermatology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland for plagiarizing from a grant application she was reviewing — which feels like a scientific version of insider trading — and a number of published papers. According to the ORI’s findings, Pratima Karnik