Trachea surgeon Macchiarini acted “without due care,” but is not guilty of misconduct: Karolinska

Following an investigation, Karolinska Institutet has found that surgeon and visiting professor Paolo Macchiarini acted in some cases “without due care,” but that his behavior “does not qualify as scientific misconduct.” Karolinska’s Vice Chancellor has also recommended that Macchiarini submit an unspecified number of corrections “to clarify and rectify the failings that the inquiry has … Continue reading Trachea surgeon Macchiarini acted “without due care,” but is not guilty of misconduct: Karolinska

Weekend reads: Academic article brokering; favorite fieldwork bloopers; worst peer review ever

This week, we marked the fifth anniversary of Retraction Watch with the announcement of a generous new grant. We also covered the retraction of a slew of papers in a journal plagued by problems. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Inquiry into duplications reveals “multiple” image problems in tumor study

A paper on how abnormal stem cells can cause benign bone tumors has been retracted by Cell Stem Cell after an inquiry into image duplications also uncovered “multiple instances of inappropriate western blot image adjustment.” The first two authors “declined” to sign the retraction, according to the notice. Besides confirming initial suspicions that images had been … Continue reading Inquiry into duplications reveals “multiple” image problems in tumor study

Corrections (and one EoC) propagate for distinguished plant biologist, Olivier Voinnet

There may be some deeply rooted issues in the work of high-profile plant biologist Olivier Voinnet, biology department research director at ETH in Zurich. Corrections have continued to pile up months after his work was hit with a barrage of criticism on PubPeer. We’ve tracked a total of seven corrections over the past five months (not including … Continue reading Corrections (and one EoC) propagate for distinguished plant biologist, Olivier Voinnet

Macchiarini co-author objects to investigation’s misconduct verdict

One of Paolo Macchiarini’s co-authors on a 2011 Lancet paper describing an allegedly groundbreaking procedure to transplant an artificial trachea seeded with stem cells is objecting to a recent investigation that concluded Macchiarini had committed misconduct. Ola Hermanson, who studies neural stem cells at Karolinska Institutet, argued in a report dated June 29 that the … Continue reading Macchiarini co-author objects to investigation’s misconduct verdict

“If you think it’s rude to ask to look at your co-authors’ data, you’re not doing science”: Guest post

Last month, the community was shaken when a major study on gay marriage in Science was retracted following questions on its funding, data, and methodology. The senior author, Donald Green, made it clear he was not privy to many details of the paper — which raised some questions for C. K. Gunsalus, director of the National … Continue reading “If you think it’s rude to ask to look at your co-authors’ data, you’re not doing science”: Guest post

Cancer paper pulled due to “identical text” from one published 6 days prior; author objects

Clinical Cancer Research is retracting a paper on the immunosuppressive effects of glioma due to “evidence of duplicate and/or redundant publication.” According to the retraction notice, the 2010 paper bore exceeding similarities to another one published by the same group of researchers six days prior. That second paper appeared in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, which – like … Continue reading Cancer paper pulled due to “identical text” from one published 6 days prior; author objects

Misconduct found in 7 papers by Macchiarini, says English write-up of investigation

The Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has released an English translation of an external review that found Paolo Macchiarini, a celebrated surgeon who is credited with creating tracheas from cadavers and patients’ own stem cells, committed misconduct in a series of papers describing the work. You can read the entire report, news of which was first … Continue reading Misconduct found in 7 papers by Macchiarini, says English write-up of investigation

“Super-surgeon” Macchiarini guilty of misconduct, external review finds

Paolo Macchiarini, the celebrated surgeon whose work has come under scrutiny in Italy and at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, committed misconduct in six papers, according to an external reviewer. Macchiarini is best known for creating tracheas from cadavers and patients’ own stem cells. The findings of the external review, first reported yesterday by SvD Nyheter, … Continue reading “Super-surgeon” Macchiarini guilty of misconduct, external review finds

NIH cancer paper retracted for faked data

Following an investigation into research misconduct, the Journal of Clinical Investigation has retracted a cancer genetics paper from a laboratory at the National Institutes of Health due to “data falsification and fabrication” of four figures and a table in the paper. The paper, “FOXO3 programs tumor-associated DCs to become tolerogenic in human and murine prostate … Continue reading NIH cancer paper retracted for faked data