Search Results for: stem cell

“Highly unusual and unfortunate error” delays retraction two years in high-profile Duke case

As we’ve noted before, “the wheels of scientific publishing turn slowly … but they do (sometimes) turn.”  More than six years after the first retraction for Erin Potts-Kant, who was part of a group at Duke whose work would unravel amid misconduct allegations and lead to a $112.5 million settlement earlier this year with the … Continue reading “Highly unusual and unfortunate error” delays retraction two years in high-profile Duke case

Weekend reads: A week of whistleblower news, including what happens when one gets it wrong; questions about a widely covered study of men with guitar bags

Before we present this week’s Weekend Reads, a request: Our co-founder Ivan Oransky is celebrating a birthday this coming week, and he’d like nothing more than a gift to Retraction Watch to support our work. Here’s your chance. The week at Retraction Watch featured a psychology researcher who did the right thing; 15 retractions by … Continue reading Weekend reads: A week of whistleblower news, including what happens when one gets it wrong; questions about a widely covered study of men with guitar bags

Journal expresses a great deal of concern over deceased author’s work

A gastroenterology journal has issued an extensive expression of concern about a 2013 paper by Yoshihiro Sato, a Japanese endocrinologist who has posthumously been climbing the Retraction Watch leaderboard. (He’s now ranked number three, ahead of Diederik Stapel.) To call the statement an “expression of concern” is like calling Charles M. Schulz a talented cartoonist, … Continue reading Journal expresses a great deal of concern over deceased author’s work

Drug researchers trip up, lifting meth paper to write one on LSD

Evidently meth is a gateway drug … for publishing misconduct.  Researchers in China have lost a 2019 paper on how LSD can damage eyesight because they’d lifted much of the paper from an article that had appeared the year before in a different journal — about methamphetamine.  The retracted article, “Long-term systemic treatment with lysergic … Continue reading Drug researchers trip up, lifting meth paper to write one on LSD

Cock and bull story leads to retraction of bovine herpesvirus paper

The ancients had a thing for hybrids (think animals, not cars): half goat-half humans, horses with human torsos, winged horses and lions, you get the picture. But a chicken-cow mix wasn’t on that list … until now.  A group of researchers in Brazil has lost a paper in a veterinary journal for trying to reuse … Continue reading Cock and bull story leads to retraction of bovine herpesvirus paper

Stanford calling for retractions of work by deceased star cancer researcher

The Journal of Clinical Investigation has retracted two papers from the lab of one of Stanford University’s most prominent cancer researchers over concerns about the integrity of the data.  The articles, published in 2012 and 2014, described work on ways of priming the immune system to enhance the activity of drugs to fight cancer.  The … Continue reading Stanford calling for retractions of work by deceased star cancer researcher

“We got scammed:” Authors “sincerely apologize” for plagiarism they blame a ghostwriter for

The journal Cureus is retracting three articles by a mashup of authors from Pakistan and the United States for plagiarism, which the researchers blame on their use of a hired gun to prepare the papers. The articles were published over a roughly one-month stretch in August and September 2018 and covered an impressively polymathic range … Continue reading “We got scammed:” Authors “sincerely apologize” for plagiarism they blame a ghostwriter for

A “clandestine retraction” as a paper disappears from a management journal without a trace

First it was there. Now it’s gone. In March 2018, three researchers at Atatürk University in Turkey published“Investigation Of The Critical Factors Affecting E-Government Acceptance: A Systematic Review And A Conceptual Model” at the Innovative Journal of Business and Management, where it was freely available during 2018. It has no DOI, and no citations (that … Continue reading A “clandestine retraction” as a paper disappears from a management journal without a trace

Montenegro just made plagiarism illegal. What does it hope to achieve?

The parliament of Montenegro, a small country in the southeast of Europe, approved a law on academic integrity earlier this month that effectively criminalizes plagiarism, self-plagiarism and donation of authorship. We spoke to Mubera Kurpejović, director of higher education at the country’s Ministry of Education, explains why the law was needed and what they hope it … Continue reading Montenegro just made plagiarism illegal. What does it hope to achieve?

Weekend reads: Article retracted because of “racial characterizations;” India’s high retraction rate; meet the fraud finder

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 judge’s ruling that a university could not revoke a … Continue reading Weekend reads: Article retracted because of “racial characterizations;” India’s high retraction rate; meet the fraud finder