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Researcher committed misconduct while at NIH, say institutes — but is allowed to publish a revised version of a paper

An investigation by the National Institutes of Health has led to the retraction of a 2016 paper in PLOS Biology for manipulation of the data in the article. But the journal has republished a revised version of the paper — minus the bad data — on which the researcher found to have committed the misconduct … Continue reading Researcher committed misconduct while at NIH, say institutes — but is allowed to publish a revised version of a paper

‘In hindsight the mistake was quite stupid’: Authors retract paper on stroke

File this under “doing the right thing:” A group of stroke researchers in Germany have retracted a paper they published earlier this year after finding an error in their work shortly after publication that doomed the findings.  Julian Klingbeil, of the Department of Neurology at the University of Leipzig Medical Center, and his colleagues had … Continue reading ‘In hindsight the mistake was quite stupid’: Authors retract paper on stroke

‘They seem to mean business’: Cardiology journal flags papers cited hundreds of times

A European cardiology journal has issued expressions of concern for seven widely-cited papers dating back to 2009 after a reader flagged suspicious images in the articles.  Although the cast of characters changes, the senior author on all seven papers is Chao-Ke Tang, of the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of South China, in Hengyang, … Continue reading ‘They seem to mean business’: Cardiology journal flags papers cited hundreds of times

Publisher won’t retract most papers by chemist editor-in-chief who left university post under a cloud

The retractions appear to be trickling in for Thomas Webster, a once-prominent chemistry researcher who left his post at Northeastern University after nearly 70 of his papers were flagged on PubPeer for concerns about the data in the studies.  But while the publisher of a journal he co-founded — and left earlier this year — … Continue reading Publisher won’t retract most papers by chemist editor-in-chief who left university post under a cloud

A scientist critic was sued, and won — but did not emerge unscathed. This is his story.

Retraction Watch readers may be familiar with the name David Sanders. Sanders, a biologist at Purdue University, has become a scientific sleuth, ferreting out problems in numerous papers. In one of those cases, that of Ohio State University professor Carlo Croce, Sanders ended up being sued — before an article in which he was quoted … Continue reading A scientist critic was sued, and won — but did not emerge unscathed. This is his story.

‘We apologize again for the inadvertent mistakes during the assembly of data due to our carelessness’

Last December, Elisabeth Bik notified journals about 45 articles by a researcher in China which struck her as suspicious. Within weeks, one of those journals — DNA and Cell Biology — had retracted the paper she’d flagged. That reassuringly brisk response appears to have been an anomaly in the case of Hua Tang, of Tianjin … Continue reading ‘We apologize again for the inadvertent mistakes during the assembly of data due to our carelessness’

Pulp fiction: Japanese university revokes two dentistry PhDs in case involving two dozen retractions

The misconduct case of an endodontics researcher in Japan who already has lost at least 24 papers for data problems has claimed two more casualties: the PhD theses of a pair of scientists he once helped train. As we reported last year,  Nobuaki Ozeki, who retired from Aichi Gakuin University in 2018, was found to … Continue reading Pulp fiction: Japanese university revokes two dentistry PhDs in case involving two dozen retractions

Weekend reads: Biotech CEO on leave after allegations on PubPeer; a researcher disavows his own paper; plagiarism here, there, and everywhere

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 costly mistake’ prompts retraction of paper on hair loss … Continue reading Weekend reads: Biotech CEO on leave after allegations on PubPeer; a researcher disavows his own paper; plagiarism here, there, and everywhere

Meet a sleuth whose work has led to the identification of hundreds of fraudulent papers

Last month, Retraction Watch reported on the case of Hironobo Ueshima, an anesthesiology researcher found guilty of misconduct in more than 140 papers. A journal editor, John Loadsman, was the first to suspect there were issues in Ueshima’s work. But this was hardly the first time Loadsman had been the canary in the coal mine … Continue reading Meet a sleuth whose work has led to the identification of hundreds of fraudulent papers

First, this paper was corrected. Now it has an expression of concern. And maybe, just maybe, it will be retracted.

Never let it be said that journals are not deliberative when it comes to correcting the record.  Of course, “deliberative” also means “slow.” Take a 2018 article in the Journal of Infectious Diseases (JID)  by a group of authors in India.