Search Results for: pubpeer

Research misconduct finding — which university won’t discuss — leads to second retraction for prominent physicist

A rising star in nanotechnology, Dmitri Lapotko, has received his second retraction within a month over “a finding of research misconduct” that the university will apparently only disclose on a need-to-know basis. According to the notice, the journal’s editor and publisher issued the retraction after Lapotko’s former institution—Rice University in Houston—notified them of research misconduct and … Continue reading Research misconduct finding — which university won’t discuss — leads to second retraction for prominent physicist

President of Taiwan university to step down amidst investigation

The president of a top university in Taiwan has announced he will resign from his post at the end of his first term in June. President Pan-chyr Yang of National Taiwan University (NTU) has opted not to seek a second term as president given two recent investigations — one which concluded last month and one which … Continue reading President of Taiwan university to step down amidst investigation

Scientist who sued university earns two more retractions, bringing total to five

A scientist who sued his employer for millions of dollars has earned two more retractions, for papers that had already been flagged by the journal. By our count, Rakesh Kumar now has five retractions and multiple corrections. Kumar sued his employer, George Washington University, for $8 million, alleging emotional distress when they put him on leave … Continue reading Scientist who sued university earns two more retractions, bringing total to five

Two more retractions for stem cell researcher appealing her dismissal

Susana Gonzalez, a rising star in stem cell research, has had a rough year. In addition to being fired from her former research institute (which she is now appealing), one of her grants (totaling nearly 2 million Euros) was suspended. Most recently, she has received two new retractions in Nature Communications over figure duplications and … Continue reading Two more retractions for stem cell researcher appealing her dismissal

Another correction for prominent cancer researcher who’s dodged accusations for decades

The chair of a biology department who has faced years of misconduct accusations has taken another hit—a lengthy correction due to text “overlap” between one of his PNAS papers and six other articles. According to the correction, a reader contacted the journal to notify the editors that text and sentences in multiple sections of the … Continue reading Another correction for prominent cancer researcher who’s dodged accusations for decades

Negligence by stressed-out postdoc led to retraction of high-profile paper, supervisor says

The timing was tight, but Sergio Gonzalez had done it. Gonzalez, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier (INSERM) in France, had a paper accepted in a top journal by the end of 2015, just in time to apply for a small number of highly sought-after permanent research positions that open up in France each … Continue reading Negligence by stressed-out postdoc led to retraction of high-profile paper, supervisor says

Huh? Cancer paper gets retracted because of its correction

Here’s a rather odd case: When readers raised issues about some of the images in a 2008 cancer paper, the authors issued a correction last year. But when readers asked additional questions about the corrected images, the authors decided to retract the paper entirely, along with its correction. Both the original and corrected versions were questioned on … Continue reading Huh? Cancer paper gets retracted because of its correction

15-year old paper pulled for image problems

A group of researchers in France has been forced to retract their 2002 article in the Journal of Virology after learning that the paper was marred by multiple image problems. The paper, “P0 of Beet Western Yellows Virus Is a Suppressor of Posttranscriptional Gene Silencing,” came from the lab of Veronique Ziegler-Graff, a plant biologist at the … Continue reading 15-year old paper pulled for image problems

Journal flags another paper by diabetes researcher who sued to stop retractions

It would seem that resorting to legal means to avoid editorial notices doesn’t always work. We’re coming to that conclusion after seeing yet another notice for Mario Saad, based at the University of Campinas in São Paulo, Brazil. In this case, it’s an expression of concern from the Journal of Endocrinology, on a 2005 paper that … Continue reading Journal flags another paper by diabetes researcher who sued to stop retractions

Prominent physicist loses paper over data falsification

A paper by a promising nanotechnologist has been retracted for data falsification. Dmitri Lapotko, a Belarusian researcher with a background in laser weaponry, made a name for himself at Rice University in Houston, where he studied the use of nanotechnology to diagnose and treat human diseases. That work earned him significant press coverage, including stories … Continue reading Prominent physicist loses paper over data falsification