The U.S. Office of Research Integrity has removed an issue of its quarterly newsletter, without including a public notice explaining why. The main website for the newsletter — published since 1993 — is now missing the March 2017 edition. A spokesperson for the agency told Retraction Watch:
The Retraction Watch Privacy Policy Welcome to Retraction Watch (retractionwatch.com), a site dedicated to reporting on scientific retractions and related issues. Retraction Watch is a project of The Center For Scientific Integrity, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation with headquarters in New York. Retraction Watch (referred to below as “the website,” “we,” “us,” “our”) is the … Continue reading Privacy policy
A university and medical center have requested a batch of retractions following an investigation that found 20 papers by a cancer researcher contained manipulated images. The request, from University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB) and Birmingham VA Medical Center, focuses on papers by Santosh Katiyar, who explored alternative approaches to treating skin cancer in animal models. For … Continue reading University requests 20 retractions of cancer papers following probe
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 collaboration with Undark looking at how scientists who commit … Continue reading Weekend reads: How to get away with scientific fraud; what’s wrong with nutrition research; a second chance after misconduct
A prominent (yet controversial) journalist in Australia has admitted to duplicating three images that were part of her PhD thesis — a practice outside experts agreed was acceptable, if not ideal, at the time, according to a report released today. As part of an inquiry, the University of Adelaide convened an expert panel to investigate … Continue reading Controversial Australian science journalist admits to duplication in her PhD thesis
The University of Tokyo has fired a high-profile cell biologist after a probe determined his group had falsified data. According to a news release issued today (in Japanese), the university has issued a “disciplinary dismissal” of Yoshinori Watanabe (according to our Google translate of the notice). In 2016, the institution began an investigation of seven … Continue reading Prominent researcher dismissed following misconduct probe
For months, a researcher has wrestled with a journal over the wording of an upcoming retraction notice. It appears that she has lost. Earlier this week, Cell retracted the paper, despite the protests of first author Shalon Babbitt Ledbetter. When Ledbetter learned the journal was planning to retract the biochemistry paper over image manipulations, but … Continue reading Researcher loses battle with Cell over wording of retraction notice
A researcher whose work on the use of nanomaterials has been heavily scrutinized on PubPeer — with one critic alleging a paper contained “obviously fabricated” images — has lost eight papers. [Editor’s note: See update below.] The eight articles — seven from Biosensors and Bioelectronics and one from Analytica Chimica Acta, both published by Elsevier … Continue reading Author under fire has eight papers retracted, including seven from one journal
When someone has to retract a paper for misconduct, what are the odds they will do it again? And how can we use that information to stop repeat offenders? Those are the questions that Toshio Kuroki of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and Akira Ukawa of RIKEN set out to tackle in … Continue reading How often do scientists who commit misconduct do it again?
Here’s something we haven’t seen before: The U.S. Office of Research Integrity has issued a second notice for a former researcher at the National Institutes of Health, after determining she withheld information during the first investigation. Last year, the ORI sanctioned Brandi M. Baughman — formerly at the National Institute of Environmental and Health Sciences … Continue reading In what appears to be a first, researcher sanctioned twice by ORI