In the fall of 2015, out-of-work stem cell biologist Mavi Camarasa decided she had waited long enough. It had been three years since she and a colleague were, best they could tell, the first to successfully correct the most common cystic fibrosis mutation in stem cells derived from a patient. But her former lab director, … Continue reading Author of retracted gene editing paper alleges “bullying” by former PI
After a paper is published, how long should a journal consider allegations of misconduct? For one journal, that answer is: Six years. We see plenty of journals that retract papers at least 10 years old over concerns regarding misconduct, but in a recent editorial, Molecular and Cellular Biology announced it would pursue allegations made within … Continue reading Journal won’t look at allegations about papers more than six years old, nor comment on those from “public websites”
The fallout continues for a study conducted at a local CrossFit gym by researchers at The Ohio State University. First it was corrected, now it’s been retracted, and it continues to be the basis of litigation against both the authors and the publisher. Editors at the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research have decided to … Continue reading Journal retracts Ohio State CrossFit study at center of lawsuits
Some accidental mistakes have led researchers to issue a long correction to a 2016 PNAS paper. According to the notice, when the cell biology paper’s corresponding authors became aware of duplications in two images, they immediately notified the journal and the University of Nottingham. After examining the original data archives, the university found that the … Continue reading “Clumsy but genuine errors” prompt PNAS correction
A neurochemistry journal has retracted a paper from a group in China over a duplicated image. According to the notice, the authors used the same image in the two papers to represent different experimental conditions. The only distinguishing feature between the images: “apparent brightness changes.” The authors defended their actions, explaining that the research published in Journal of … Continue reading Paper with duplicated image “sequentially builds” on neuroscience work, authors argue
The corresponding author of a 2015 nanotechnology paper has penned a lengthy — and revealing — retraction notice, explaining why he is not certain about the findings. In the notice, Chang Ming Li from the Institute for Clean Energy & Advanced Materials (ICEAM) at Southwest University in China, states that there is “insufficient evidence to conclusively” identify … Continue reading Author retracts nanotechnology paper over doubts about key results
A diabetes journal has issued two notices of concern for papers co-authored by a researcher who took another publisher to court after it did the same thing — but ultimately lost. The notices are for two papers co-authored by Mario Saad — who, after losing his legal battle with the American Diabetes Association, has since … Continue reading Journal flags two more papers by diabetes researcher who sued to stop retractions (and now has 12)
In August, the U.S. Office of Research Integrity announced that a former postdoctoral fellow at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) doctored data in two published papers. It took one journal a little longer than five months to remove the researcher’s name from the co-author list, and replace one figure. It took the second … Continue reading Journal retracts paper eight months after U.S. Feds announce findings of misconduct
The first author of a 2013 chemistry paper is objecting to his co-authors’ decision to retract the paper, which contains duplicated figures. We recently encountered a similar scenario with papers by first author Khalid Mahmood. In late 2015, Mahmood lost three papers in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces over duplicated images. One of the notices … Continue reading First author objects to retraction (his fourth) in chemistry journal
The former vice chancellor for research at the University of California, Los Angeles, has retracted a 2012 paper after an internal investigation found evidence of image manipulation. The journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics received a letter about the problems with the paper from the UCLA Research Integrity Officer, and a retraction request from last author James Economou, also … Continue reading Former UCLA vice-chancellor loses cancer paper for image manipulation