Not so fast! Journal retracts paper from Boldt group over author hijinks, more

We knew we hadn’t heard the last of Joachim Boldt, whose nearly 90 retractions make him the putative record holder for a single author in this indistinguished club. But we didn’t expect this: The European Journal of Anaesthesiology has retracted a paper, “Supplemental oxygen reduces serotonin levels in plasma and platelets during colorectal surgery and … Continue reading Not so fast! Journal retracts paper from Boldt group over author hijinks, more

Two mega-corrections for Anil Potti in the Journal of Clinical Oncology

Anil Potti can add two corrections to his less-and-less impressive publication record. The mega-corrections — part of what we are close to being ready to call a trend in errata notices — in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) are, however, quite impressive, each with at least a dozen points. One of the corrections, for … Continue reading Two mega-corrections for Anil Potti in the Journal of Clinical Oncology

No small matter: ACS Nano journal growing alarmed by self-plagiarism

Is self-plagiarism — perhaps best referred to as duplication of your own work — a big problem in nanotechnology research? The American Chemical Society (ACS) Nano journal retracted a study, “Retraction of Nanoembossing Induced Ferroelectric Lithography on PZT Films for Silver Particle Patterning,”  late last month because of such duplication: This article was withdrawn at the request of … Continue reading No small matter: ACS Nano journal growing alarmed by self-plagiarism

MD Anderson investigating researcher Bharat Aggarwal over images

Bharat Aggarwal, an influential MD Anderson researcher who has been accused in the blogosphere of manipulating images in a slew of published studies, acknowledged to Retraction Watch that the Houston institution is investigating the matter. Reached by Retraction Watch by phone at his office, Aggarwal said MD Anderson has been looking into it and I … Continue reading MD Anderson investigating researcher Bharat Aggarwal over images

An arXiv for all of science? F1000 launches new immediate publication journal

Late last year, we published an invited commentary in Nature calling for science to more formally embrace post-publication peer review, and stop fetishizing the published paper. One of the models we cited was Faculty of 1000 (F1000), “in which experts flag important papers in their field.” So it’s not surprising that F1000 is announcing today … Continue reading An arXiv for all of science? F1000 launches new immediate publication journal

Case Western explains why it withdrew press release about Andrulis origin of life paper

The wild and woolly saga of the paper that claims to solve “the puzzle of the origin and evolution of cellular life in the universe” continues. Yesterday, Ivan wrote on his Tumblr about Case Western’s Erik D. Andrulis‘ paper, “Theory of the Origin, Evolution, and Nature of Life:”

Should Iran have nuclear power? Paper addressing question retracted for authorship issues

When Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews accepted a paper last year arguing that nuclear power is Iran’s “assured right,” the editor, Lawrence Kazmirski, thought the article would be at least somewhat controversial. He was right — but for the wrong reason. Shortly after publication, Kazmirski,  director of the National Center for Photovoltaics at the National Renewable … Continue reading Should Iran have nuclear power? Paper addressing question retracted for authorship issues

Sebastiani and Perls longevity genes work finds a new home in PLoS ONE following Science retraction

Today, without us having planned it, has become the day of retracted papers that found a new home. This morning, we posted an item about a chimp “culture” paper that was retracted from Biology Letters after its authors found some errors, and then published, with corrections, in the Journal of Human Evolution. This afternoon, we … Continue reading Sebastiani and Perls longevity genes work finds a new home in PLoS ONE following Science retraction

ORI roundup: Former SUNY grad student, two Kansas U researchers hit with sanctions

In two unrelated cases, the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has sanctioned a grad student and a pair of colleagues, one of whom plagiarized and the other allowed the intellectual theft to go unchecked. We think the handling of these cases — both first noted briefly by The Chronicle of Higher Education — is worth noting.

So how peripheral was Dipak Das’ resveratrol work, really?

In the wake of the massive allegations of fraud by resveratrol researcher Dipak Das, other researchers in the field are clearly trying to distance themselves from the University of Connecticut scientist. Nir Barzilai told us yesterday, for example, that despite Das seemingly’ impressive publication record, “Rome was not built on Dr. Das.” Harvard’s David Sinclair went … Continue reading So how peripheral was Dipak Das’ resveratrol work, really?