Science has issued an expression of concern for a paper it published earlier this summer after readers pointed out suspect images in the work. The July 10 article, titled “Proton transport enabled by a field-induced metallic state in a semiconductor hetero-structure,” came from a group in China and the United Kingdom. The corresponding authors were … Continue reading PubPeer comments prompt Science expression of concern
Nine strikes in a row in bowling is called a “golden turkey.” So what do you call 10 papers on poultry pulled at once for plagiarism? We first wrote about Sajid Umar in July 2018, when he’d lost a 2016 article in Scientifica for plagiarism and other sins, and then again earlier this summer when … Continue reading Going cold turkey: Infectious disease-poultry researcher up to 14 retractions
Before we present this week’s Weekend Reads, a question: Do you enjoy our weekly roundup? If so, we could really use your help. Would you consider a tax-deductible donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: A sting involving hydroxychloroquine, push scooters, and COVID-19 A home … Continue reading Weekend reads: Editors who publish in their own journals; a crackdown on paper mills; oncologist violates university policies in developing treatment
At least seven years after questions were first raised about work by a researcher at the University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Medicine, he has agreed to a three-year ban on Federal funding. Anil Jaiswal, whose first retraction appeared in 2013, faked data in eight NIH grant applications and six papers supported by Federal grants, … Continue reading Former Maryland researcher banned from Federal funding for misconduct
A scheme of far-reaching research misconduct among several groups of Iranian researchers may have created hundreds of low-quality and fraudulent publications, according to a new detailed report by an anonymous whistleblower who has already forced the retraction of dozens of papers by one author in the ring. The whistleblower, who goes by the pseudonym Artemisia … Continue reading The ‘Iran Connection’: A ring of four research groups has published hundreds of dodgy papers, says whistleblower
Didier Raoult, whose claims that hydroxychloroquine can treat COVID-19 have been widely disputed, has had a 2018 paper corrected for what his team says was unintentional duplication of a figure. Here’s the correction for “Identification of rickettsial immunoreactive proteins using a proximity ligation assay Western blotting and the traditional immunoproteomic approach,” which came four months … Continue reading Co-author of controversial hydroxychloroquine study has 2018 paper corrected for “unintentional mistake”
We’re pleased to present an excerpt from Stuart Ritchie’s new book, Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth. One of the best-known, and most absurd, scientific fraud cases of the twentieth century also concerned transplants – in this case, skin grafts. While working at the prestigious Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute … Continue reading “[H]ow gullible reviewers and editors…can be”: An excerpt from Science Fictions
A study on a wireless communication algorithm was retracted for being an exact duplicate of a paper submitted to a separate journal last year — but the authors were different and it’s unclear how they got hold of it. The retracted study, “Energy-aware resource management for uplink non-orthogonal multiple access: Multi-agent deep reinforcement learning” was … Continue reading A mystery: How did this team plagiarize an unpublished paper?
Date of Change Field Change Reason 7/13/2020 Reasons add: Transfer of Copyright/Ownership To indicate when a retraction is made solely for a change in copyright or ownership of material. Commonly seen when books/journals change or when copyright reverts back to the authors. Does NOT refer to disputes/violations in ownership or copyright. 10/2/2020 Reasons Removed “Prior” … Continue reading Retraction Watch Database User Guide Appendix D: Changes
A study that found a way to deliver certain kinds of drugs more effectively in mice is being retracted today. The study, “Molecular targeting of FATP4 transporter for oral delivery of therapeutic peptide” was overseen by Haifa Shen at the Houston Methodist Research Institute and published in Science Advances on April 1. Several readers, including … Continue reading Drug delivery study with duplicated images is retracted