Search Results for: post-doc

Springer Nature ‘continuing to investigate the concerns raised’ about paper linking obesity and lying

What’s the link between obesity and dishonesty?  If that question seems preposterous on its face, you’re probably among the critics of a 2020 paper in Scientific Reports which claimed to find that obese people were more deceptive than thinner folk.  The researchers, led by Eugenia Polizzi di Sorrentino, of the Institute of Cognitive Science and … Continue reading Springer Nature ‘continuing to investigate the concerns raised’ about paper linking obesity and lying

French university rescinds researcher’s PhD after misconduct finding

A university in France has stripped a researcher of her doctoral degree after she was found to have committed misconduct in at least two studies of yeast.  As we reported in May, Marjorie Petitjean, who received her PhD from the National Institute of Applied Sciences at the University of Toulouse, was accused of having fabricated … Continue reading French university rescinds researcher’s PhD after misconduct finding

Better (publishing) background checks: A way toward greater integrity in science

Science represents perhaps the single greatest accomplishment of humankind. Of all human institutions, organisations and establishments, science has proven an effective tool for driving progress. It is inherently self-correcting, and tolerates — and even demands — skepticism, challenge and self-critique. Few human institutions can make a similar claim. However, there is increasing recognition and concern that … Continue reading Better (publishing) background checks: A way toward greater integrity in science

Two retractions as yeast researcher risks losing her PhD

A team of researchers in France has lost two papers on their studies of yeast because the work was “a complete work of fiction,” in the words of one colleague. The papers came from the lab of Jean-Luc Parrou, of the University of Toulouse, and involved work by a former PhD student of his named … Continue reading Two retractions as yeast researcher risks losing her PhD

Remembering research integrity leader Daniel Vasgird, December 30, 1945-January 30, 2020

Daniel Vasgird was a well-known figure in research integrity circles. He died in late January at the age of 74. We’re honored to present a remembrance that Michael Kalichman put together to honor Vasgird’s memory at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) meeting next week in Atlanta. Just a few weeks ago, the … Continue reading Remembering research integrity leader Daniel Vasgird, December 30, 1945-January 30, 2020

Fourth retraction for Haruko Obokata, focus of STAP cell scandal, after Harvard investigation

More than five years after Nature retracted two highly suspect papers about what had been described as a major breakthrough in stem cell research, another journal has pulled a paper about the work.  The scandal over so-called STAP stem cells took down more than just a few articles. The case centered on Haruko Obokata, a … Continue reading Fourth retraction for Haruko Obokata, focus of STAP cell scandal, after Harvard investigation

Harvard group retracts Nature paper

A group of researchers based at Harvard University have retracted an influential 2017 letter in Nature after a change in lab personnel led to the discovery of errors in the analysis.  The article, “Microglia-dependent synapse loss in type I interferon-mediated lupus,” emerged from a collaboration including scientists at Harvard Medical School, the Rockefeller University in … Continue reading Harvard group retracts Nature paper

Tired of waiting for a university, a publisher commissions its own investigation — and retracts two papers

The journal Diabetes has retracted two 2006 papers by a group of researchers in Germany whose work has long been the subject of concerns about image duplication and manipulation.  The first author of the articles is Kathrin Maedler, a prominent diabetes specialist at the University of Bremen, where she’d been a named professor but lost … Continue reading Tired of waiting for a university, a publisher commissions its own investigation — and retracts two papers

Neuroscience group retracts Science paper

A group of neuroscientists in Switzerland have retracted a 2019 paper in Science whose first author they say falsified data in the study. The article, “Insular cortex processes aversive somatosensory information and is crucial for threat learning,” came from the lab of Ralf Schneggenburger, of the Ecole Polytechniqe Federale De Lausanne (EPFL). The first author … Continue reading Neuroscience group retracts Science paper

When a paper duplicates one in another language, how can editors spot it?

Same tea, different mug. Biomolecules, an MDPI journal, has retracted a 2018 paper by on the salubrious effects of tea because the authors had previously published the same article in a Chinese-language journal. The paper, “Evaluation of anti-obesity activity, acute toxicity, and subacute toxicity of probiotic dark tea,” came from researchers in China and one … Continue reading When a paper duplicates one in another language, how can editors spot it?