Researchers in China have retracted a paper and corrected three others in a plant journal, citing problems with multiple figures. Lixin Zhang, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, is corresponding author on all four papers, published by Plant Physiology. We’ve reported on three retractions and two corrections from Lixin Zhang and some of the same … Continue reading Plant scientist logs 4 more notices over figure errors
From time to time, academics will devise a “sting” operation, designed to expose journals’ weaknesses. We’ve seen scientists submit a duplicated paper, a deeply flawed weight loss paper designed to generate splashy headlines (it worked), and an entirely fake paper – where even the author calls it a “pile of dung.” So it wasn’t a … Continue reading The latest sting: Will predatory journals hire “Dr. Fraud”?
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
Researchers have retracted two 2016 papers from the same journal which were published without the permission of the supervising scientists. According to the retraction notices, the two Applied Materials & Interfaces articles were “published without the full knowledge or consent of the principal investigators” who guided the research, but are not named in the notices. The papers share … Continue reading Two retracted papers were published behind bosses’ backs
Is eliminating the concept of “misconduct” a sign of progress in the fight for research integrity, or a step backward? That’s the debate playing out in Australia, where a proposal from national research bodies would make it the latest country to embrace a broader definition of ethical lapses in research, doing away with the term … Continue reading Does labeling bad behavior “scientific misconduct” help or hurt research integrity? A debate rages
A biologist in India has lost three papers that appear to have been part of a network of duplications. One paper published in 2012 was retracted — at the researcher’s request — for copying from a 2010 paper of his. In turn, both papers were duplicated in a paper that was published in 2016, and retracted … Continue reading Plant biologist loses three papers that made up a duplication ring
Sometime in the middle of 2015, Jennifer Byrne, professor of molecular oncology at the University of Sydney, began her journey from cancer researcher to a scientific literature sleuth, seeking out potentially problematic papers. The first step was when she noticed several papers that contained a mistake in a DNA construct which, she believed, meant the … Continue reading What turned a cancer researcher into a literature watchdog?
Around two years ago, when mathematics researcher Jean Ecalle submitted a paper to Acta Mathematica Vietnamica, he saw that he had the option of making the paper open access. So he checked a box on the submission form — which included a mention of the fees that he apparently missed — and didn’t think anything of it. … Continue reading Major publisher threatened to sue author who didn’t realize he owed open access fees
While we are often among the first to chuckle at a good sting of a predatory publisher, there have probably been enough of them by now to have made the point. And even Ottawa Citizen reporter Tom Spears — whose stings have been among the most hilarious — seems to agree. He didn’t want to … Continue reading For this fake editorial, “merit of artistic writing” was enough for publication
Following a journal probe and questions on PubPeer about their work, authors in Spain have issued four corrections, citing missing raw data for experiments conducted more than 10 years ago. All papers include the same last two authors, Mireia Duñach at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and Antonio García de Herreros at the Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigacions … Continue reading Authors in Spain issue string of corrections