Search Results for: pubpeer

Publisher investigating “serious concerns” about article on ivermectin, COVID, and the microbiome

The publisher Frontiers has published an expression of concern for an article that proposed “ivermectin protects against COVID-19” via effects on the microbiome.   The article, “Microbiome-Based Hypothesis on Ivermectin’s Mechanism in COVID-19: Ivermectin Feeds Bifidobacteria to Boost Immunity,” was published in July 2022 in Frontiers in Microbiology. The sole author, Sabine Hazan, is affiliated with … Continue reading Publisher investigating “serious concerns” about article on ivermectin, COVID, and the microbiome

Ob-gyn who called criticism ‘racist’ and ‘hate speech’ earns retraction, several expressions of concern

There shouldn’t have been many differences between the women recruited for the three clinical trials: All of them gave birth at the same two Cairo hospitals over a period of less than three years, and all of them were treated to prevent or manage postpartum bleeding. Three samples from this pool of patients, Ben Mol … Continue reading Ob-gyn who called criticism ‘racist’ and ‘hate speech’ earns retraction, several expressions of concern

Was a paper from Taiwan retracted because of a geopolitical dispute? 

A study in the journal Smart Materials in Medicine has earned a retraction, seemingly not because of scholarly malfeasance or an inadvertent oversight, but because of a “lack of agreement on affiliation format.”  The crucial fact seems to be that almost all of the article’s authors, including its two senior authors, list affiliations in Taiwan, … Continue reading Was a paper from Taiwan retracted because of a geopolitical dispute? 

Japanese university asks surgeon to retract eight ‘fraudulent’ papers

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

Elsevier journal temporarily removes article by prolific psychologist – with a typo at “frist”

An Elsevier psychology journal took down an article in early December with a notice that appeared to be an internal memo, including a typo.  The article, a letter titled “First COVID-19 suicide case in Bangladesh due to fear of COVID-19 and xenophobia: Possible suicide prevention strategies,” was published in June of 2020 in the Asian … Continue reading Elsevier journal temporarily removes article by prolific psychologist – with a typo at “frist”

Researchers lost five papers soon after scientists critiqued another of their papers in Retraction Watch

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

PLOS flags nearly 50 papers by controversial French COVID researcher for ethics concerns

The publisher PLOS is marking nearly 50 articles by Didier Raoult, the French scientist who became controversial for promoting hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19, with expressions of concern while it investigates potential research ethics violations in the work.  PLOS has been looking into more than 100 articles by Raoult, but determined that the issues in 49 … Continue reading PLOS flags nearly 50 papers by controversial French COVID researcher for ethics concerns

Professor emeritus loses fourth paper after UCSF-VA investigation, five years after other retractions

A former research center director and professor emeritus of urology has lost a fourth paper after a joint investigation by the University of California San Francisco and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center found faked data in several of his articles.  The other three retractions for Rajvir Dahiya, who directed the UCSF/VAMC Urology Research … Continue reading Professor emeritus loses fourth paper after UCSF-VA investigation, five years after other retractions

A paper used capital T’s instead of error bars. But wait, there’s more!

Mere days after tweets went viral pointing out  that the purported error bars in one figure of a paper were really just the capital letter T, the publisher has marked it with an expression of concern. [12/22/22: The paper has now been retracted; see an update on this post.] And that’s not all that’s strange about … Continue reading A paper used capital T’s instead of error bars. But wait, there’s more!

Biotech exec stole an image and reused others while in academia, US federal watchdog says

A pioneer in the field of exosome biology engaged in research misconduct by reusing images he had falsely relabeled in two published papers and several grant applications, according to a U.S. government research watchdog.  The case goes back several years, as the scientist’s former institution seems to have been investigating his work for nearly a … Continue reading Biotech exec stole an image and reused others while in academia, US federal watchdog says