A researcher sued critics of his work. Now he has 13 retractions.

A cancer researcher who sued PubPeer commenters for criticizing his work has lost six more papers, bringing his total to 13 retractions.  Four of the new retraction notices issued by the journal Cancer cite an investigation at Wayne State University in Michigan into the work of Fazlul Sarkar and some of his colleagues. All the new notices, including the other two … Continue reading A researcher sued critics of his work. Now he has 13 retractions.

Seventh retraction appears for cancer researcher who sued PubPeer commenters

Fazlul Sarkar, who sued PubPeer commenters for criticizing his work, has logged two more retractions, bringing his total to seven. The two retractions appear in the Journal of Cellular Physiology, and follow five others released last week by another Wiley journal, Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. All notices mention an investigation at Wayne State University, where Sarkar … Continue reading Seventh retraction appears for cancer researcher who sued PubPeer commenters

Researcher suing PubPeer commenters earns 5 retractions following investigation

An investigation at Wayne State University has prompted five retractions for a scientist who is suing PubPeer commenters after they criticized his work on the site. The investigation into Fazlul Sarkar and his co-authors found that the papers contain images that were “inappropriately manipulated” or “inappropriately re-used and re-labeled.” All five retraction notices are from the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. … Continue reading Researcher suing PubPeer commenters earns 5 retractions following investigation

Stem cell researcher in Spain dismissed following investigation

A promising early career researcher has been dismissed from her post at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) in Spain, following “an alleged ongoing fraud,” according to El Pais. We don’t know what exactly the internal investigation into Susana González’s work found; El Pais relied on anonymous sources, and the CNIC confirmed only that they dismissed her on February 29th. … Continue reading Stem cell researcher in Spain dismissed following investigation

PubPeer founders reveal themselves, create foundation

The creators of PubPeer dropped their own anonymity today, as part of an announcement about a new chapter in the life of the post-publication peer review site. By now, Retraction Watch readers will be familiar with PubPeer.com. Founded in 2012, the commenting site has allowed for robust discussions of scientific papers — which in turn have led to … Continue reading PubPeer founders reveal themselves, create foundation

The Retraction Watch Leaderboard

Who has the most retractions? Here’s our unofficial list (see notes on methodology), which we’ll update as more information comes to light: Joachim Boldt (220) See also: Editors-in-chief statement, our coverage Yoshitaka Fujii (172) See also: Final report of investigating committee, our reporting, additional coverage Yoshihiro Sato (124) See also: our coverage Hironobu Ueshima (124) … Continue reading The Retraction Watch Leaderboard

Lawsuit involving PubPeer unmasks commenter as pseudonymous whistleblower Clare Francis

An attorney for Fazlul Sarkar, the Wayne State University researcher who claims he lost a job offer because of comments about his research on PubPeer, has asked a judge to reconsider last month’s decision not to release information about the site’s anonymous commenters. As a consequence, the brief in support of that motion identifies a … Continue reading Lawsuit involving PubPeer unmasks commenter as pseudonymous whistleblower Clare Francis

Wayne State neuroscientist fudged images in five papers

Teresita Briones, a former nursing professor at Wayne State University in Detroit who studied neuroscience, manipulated images in five papers, according to the Office of Research Integrity. Briones, who focused on neuroplasticity:

Weekend reads: Publication pollution, irreproducible research crisis, and broken funding models

The week at Retraction Watch featured an adventure in irony as a paper on plagiarism was retracted for…plagiarism, as well as another retraction for high-profile cancer research Robert Weinberg. Here’s what was happening elsewhere: