Search Results for: stem cell

Leading evidence-based group blames pandemic for 9-month delay pulling flawed cancer review

Last February, Richard Pollock was reading a review in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews — a prominent resource for evidence-based medicine —  when he spotted an error.  In the first figure, which compared the effectiveness of two different treatments for the most common form of liver cancer, a label was switched. The error made … Continue reading Leading evidence-based group blames pandemic for 9-month delay pulling flawed cancer review

Okinawa researcher suspended for faking data denies committing misconduct

Ye Zhang, who as we reported yesterday is serving a six-month suspension from her post at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), in Japan, says she did not commit misconduct, as the school contends.  In response to a query from Retraction Watch, Zhang, a materials scientist, said she did not agree with … Continue reading Okinawa researcher suspended for faking data denies committing misconduct

Okinawa university suspends researcher for six months following findings of plagiarism and faked data

A materials scientist in Japan was found guilty of plagiarism and fabrication of data in a May 2019 paper, resulting in a six-month suspension, according to her institution.  Ye Zhang, of the Bioinspired Soft Matter Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), was the senior author of “Enzyme-mediated dual-targeted-assembly realizes … Continue reading Okinawa university suspends researcher for six months following findings of plagiarism and faked data

Weekend reads: Scientist in China cleared of plagiarism and fraud charges; “what my retraction taught me;” researcher sued for >$1.5 million for unpaid legal bills in failed defamation cases

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: Exercise science grad student at Australian university dismissed after he … Continue reading Weekend reads: Scientist in China cleared of plagiarism and fraud charges; “what my retraction taught me;” researcher sued for >$1.5 million for unpaid legal bills in failed defamation cases

Publisher retracting 68 articles suspected of being paper mill products

It appears to be Paper Mill Sweeps Week here at Retraction Watch.  On Tuesday, we reported on an editor who believes one such operation was responsible for the withdrawals of at least two articles in her journal.  Now, the Royal Society of Chemistry is retracting 68 articles, across three of its titles, after an investigation … Continue reading Publisher retracting 68 articles suspected of being paper mill products

Dear journal: Here’s the information you left out of your retraction notice. You’re welcome.

A biology researcher in Sweden has lost a 2019 article for reasons the journal doesn’t reveal, but which we’ve learned stemmed from misconduct.  The article, “Real time large scale in vivo observations reveal intrinsic synchrony, plasticity and growth cone dynamics of midline crossing axons at the ventral floor plate of the zebrafish spinal cord,” was … Continue reading Dear journal: Here’s the information you left out of your retraction notice. You’re welcome.

Editors say they won’t retract intelligent design paper despite subject being “not in any way a suitable topic” for their journal

The editors of a journal that published a highly controversial paper on intelligent design say retraction is off the table, at least for the moment.  The drama involves an article in the September issue of the Journal of Theoretical Biology, an Elsevier title, titled “Using statistical methods to model the fine-tuning of molecular machines and … Continue reading Editors say they won’t retract intelligent design paper despite subject being “not in any way a suitable topic” for their journal

Elsevier journal disavows, but does not retract, paper on intelligent design

An Elsevier journal has disavowed, but not yet retracted, a paper creationists are calling a “a big deal for the mainstreaming” of intelligent design.  The article, “Using statistical methods to model the fine-tuning of molecular machines and systems,” appeared in the September issue of the Journal of Theoretical Biology, but has been online since June. … Continue reading Elsevier journal disavows, but does not retract, paper on intelligent design

The Doctor Who Fooled The World: An excerpt from Brian Deer’s new book about Andrew Wakefield

Retraction Watch readers are no doubt familiar with the case of Andrew Wakefield, the former gastroenterologist who led a 1998 paper in The Lancet — now retracted — that led him to claim a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. It was journalist Brian Deer who revealed the true details of that work, and … Continue reading The Doctor Who Fooled The World: An excerpt from Brian Deer’s new book about Andrew Wakefield

Wait, how did my name end up on that paper?

There’s an “us” in lupus, but no “we” — at least in the case of a 2020 paper whose list of authors was a fabrication.  Published in the journal Lupus, the article, “Antibodies to cellular prion protein and its cognate ligand stress-inducible protein 1 in systemic lupus erythematosus,” was written by a group led by … Continue reading Wait, how did my name end up on that paper?