Search Results for: duplication

Figures questioned online were manipulated, says Malaysia investigation

Many figures in four papers by a research team in Malaysia contain duplication or manipulation, a university committee has found, calling for multiple retractions. We learned about issues with three of the papers, including one in Scientific Reports, earlier this week when they were the talk of Twitter. As journals issued expressions of concern, and an expert wondered how … Continue reading Figures questioned online were manipulated, says Malaysia investigation

Images that raised eyebrows flagged by another journal; Malaysian gov’t investigates

Multiple investigations have been launched into allegations of blatant duplications by a research group in Malaysia. Last week, users alleged on Twitter that three papers by the same team included pictures of cells that were copied and pasted. First author Nima Samie, affiliated with University of Malaya in Malaysia, denied the accusations — but both the Malaysian … Continue reading Images that raised eyebrows flagged by another journal; Malaysian gov’t investigates

JAMA journals pull 3 papers by same authors for misconduct

JAMA and another journal in its network have retracted three 2005 papers about preventing hip fractures, after an admission of scientific misconduct.  All papers are being retracted over concerns about data integrity, and “inappropriate assignment of authorship.” Four of the authors — all based in Japan — have co-authored all of the three newly retracted … Continue reading JAMA journals pull 3 papers by same authors for misconduct

Authors reused images in three papers, concludes journal probe

Biologists are retracting three papers after the journal concluded they contain reused images, designed to represent different experiments. The authors stand by the conclusions, some of which they say have been “extensively validated.” The Journal of Biological Chemistry used image analysis software to evaluate the images, first published at least a decade ago. Unfortunately, the raw … Continue reading Authors reused images in three papers, concludes journal probe

Two math papers are too similar, both retracted

A mathematician has lost two publications that overlap substantially. In this case, it’s easy to see how editors were duped (as it were). Both journals received the papers within a few months of each other, and then published them in quick succession; both have since been retracted. The papers share a first author, Jin Li, affiliated with Jiujiang University in China. … Continue reading Two math papers are too similar, both retracted

Duplicated data gets corrected — not retracted — by psych journal

A psychology journal is correcting a paper for reusing data. The editor told us the paper is a “piecemeal publication,” not a duplicate, and is distinct enough from the previous article that it is not “grounds for retraction.” The authors tracked the health and mood of 65 patients over nine weeks. In one paper, they concluded that measures … Continue reading Duplicated data gets corrected — not retracted — by psych journal

Author threatens to sue Elsevier if paper remains retracted

An author is prepared to sue Elsevier if it doesn’t un-retract his paper. Computational Materials Science published two papers by the same author just eight months apart; nearly four years later, the journal pulled one for duplication. Author Masoud Panjepour, affiliated with Isfahan University of Technology in Iran, told us that he is working with a lawyer to negotiate a … Continue reading Author threatens to sue Elsevier if paper remains retracted

Researcher who sued to stop retractions gets his sixth

A sixth retraction has appeared for a diabetes researcher who previously sued a publisher to try to stop his papers from being retracted. Mario Saad‘s latest retraction, in PLOS Biology, stems from inadvertent duplications, according to the authors.  Though an investigation at Saad’s institution — the University of Campinas in Brazil — found no evidence of misconduct, a critic … Continue reading Researcher who sued to stop retractions gets his sixth

Dutch university ordered to pay economist after she was accused of plagiarism

A court in the Netherlands has fined Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) 7,500 euros to compensate for “immaterial damage” to an economist accused of plagiarism. Karima Kourtit, a researcher at VU, has been at the receiving end of anonymous complaints to her institution accusing her of plagiarism and her professor, high-profile economist Peter Nijkamp, of duplication (i.e. self-plagiarism). … Continue reading Dutch university ordered to pay economist after she was accused of plagiarism

PLOS ONE pulls maize paper with Photoshopped images

PLOS ONE has retracted a paper after editors learned that some of the images had been manipulated using Photoshop. First author of the paper, Chuan Li, confirmed that he was responsible, and told Retraction Watch he apologizes for his “low-level mistake.” Zhongfu Ni, last author of the paper from the China Agricultural University in Beijing, told us … Continue reading PLOS ONE pulls maize paper with Photoshopped images