Authors pull Mol Cell paper for “inappropriate manipulation” of data

The authors of a Molecular Cell paper have retracted it due to issues with multiple figures — including one with evidence of “intentional misconduct.” According to the authors’ institution, IMIM in Barcelona, all co-authors are aware of the retraction. The penultimate author — Antonio García de Herreros — retracted three papers in May from the Journal of Biological Chemistry for … Continue reading Authors pull Mol Cell paper for “inappropriate manipulation” of data

Plagiarism, plagiarism, plagiarism: Five recent cases

There’s so much publishing news to report, we don’t always get to cover every retraction when it appears. To get the word out more quickly, sometimes we publish a group of papers pulled for similar reasons, such as duplications. Below, we present five recent cases of plagiarism, such as using text or figures that the … Continue reading Plagiarism, plagiarism, plagiarism: Five recent cases

Figures questioned online were manipulated, says Malaysia investigation

Many figures in four papers by a research team in Malaysia contain duplication or manipulation, a university committee has found, calling for multiple retractions. We learned about issues with three of the papers, including one in Scientific Reports, earlier this week when they were the talk of Twitter. As journals issued expressions of concern, and an expert wondered how … Continue reading Figures questioned online were manipulated, says Malaysia investigation

Authors reused images in three papers, concludes journal probe

Biologists are retracting three papers after the journal concluded they contain reused images, designed to represent different experiments. The authors stand by the conclusions, some of which they say have been “extensively validated.” The Journal of Biological Chemistry used image analysis software to evaluate the images, first published at least a decade ago. Unfortunately, the raw … Continue reading Authors reused images in three papers, concludes journal probe

Duplicated data gets corrected — not retracted — by psych journal

A psychology journal is correcting a paper for reusing data. The editor told us the paper is a “piecemeal publication,” not a duplicate, and is distinct enough from the previous article that it is not “grounds for retraction.” The authors tracked the health and mood of 65 patients over nine weeks. In one paper, they concluded that measures … Continue reading Duplicated data gets corrected — not retracted — by psych journal

Author threatens to sue Elsevier if paper remains retracted

An author is prepared to sue Elsevier if it doesn’t un-retract his paper. Computational Materials Science published two papers by the same author just eight months apart; nearly four years later, the journal pulled one for duplication. Author Masoud Panjepour, affiliated with Isfahan University of Technology in Iran, told us that he is working with a lawyer to negotiate a … Continue reading Author threatens to sue Elsevier if paper remains retracted

Dutch university ordered to pay economist after she was accused of plagiarism

A court in the Netherlands has fined Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) 7,500 euros to compensate for “immaterial damage” to an economist accused of plagiarism. Karima Kourtit, a researcher at VU, has been at the receiving end of anonymous complaints to her institution accusing her of plagiarism and her professor, high-profile economist Peter Nijkamp, of duplication (i.e. self-plagiarism). … Continue reading Dutch university ordered to pay economist after she was accused of plagiarism

Non-retraction notice: Editors explain why two similar papers aren’t redundant

Editors have published a notice to let readers know why they’re not retracting a couple of papers. One paper examined whether the results of CT scans could be used to stage patients with uterine carcinoma; the other considered whether CT scans could be used to predict overall survival in uterine carcinoma. Both papers — by researchers at … Continue reading Non-retraction notice: Editors explain why two similar papers aren’t redundant

One in 25 papers contains inappropriately duplicated images, screen finds

Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologist at Stanford, has for years been a behind-the-scenes force in scientific integrity, anonymously submitting reports on plagiarism and image duplication to journal editors. Now, she’s ready to come out of the shadows. With the help of two editors at microbiology journals, she has conducted a massive study looking for image duplication … Continue reading One in 25 papers contains inappropriately duplicated images, screen finds

Neuroscientist in Serbia set to notch 7th retraction amid investigation

Amidst an ongoing investigation by the University of Belgrade in Serbia into allegations of duplication by neurobiologist Lidija Radenović, a journal is planning to retract another one of her papers. Radenović has already racked up six retractions; Elinor Ben-Menachem, the chief editor of the journal, Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, confirmed her journal is planning to retract one paper co-authored … Continue reading Neuroscientist in Serbia set to notch 7th retraction amid investigation