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
Four different journals have pulled papers from the same authors due to alleged duplication or manipulation of images. All four papers have two authors in common — Jianting Miao and Wei Zhang, both based at The Fourth Military Medical University in Xi’an City, Shaanxi, China. Many of the other co-authors are also listed in two … Continue reading “Mixed up” images earn biologists four retractions
When a researcher discovered one of the images in her papers was a duplication, she asked the journal to fix it — but the journal decided to retract the paper entirely. The researcher, Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson, is currently being investigated by the University of Gothenburg in Sweden after a number of her papers were questioned on PubPeer. She told … Continue reading Biologist under investigation asks journal to swap image, journal retracts the paper
Editors have published a notice to let readers know why they’re not retracting a couple of papers. One paper examined whether the results of CT scans could be used to stage patients with uterine carcinoma; the other considered whether CT scans could be used to predict overall survival in uterine carcinoma. Both papers — by researchers at … Continue reading Non-retraction notice: Editors explain why two similar papers aren’t redundant
Metals and Materials International has retracted three papers from one author, due to suspicions of plagiarism and authorship issues. The three papers have one thing in common — the same lead author, Reza Haghayeghi from the Islamic Azad University in Tehran, Iran. The retraction notices — all released in March, 2016 — lead with the following:
When journals discover duplicated material, many choose to retract — but a cancer journal recently faced with the same dilemma involving a researcher with multiple retractions under his belt has instead decided to flag the paper with an expression of concern. An editor told us that Cancers considered retracting the paper, by gynecologic cancer researcher Noriyuki Takai, … Continue reading Journal flags duplicated text by gynecologic cancer researcher with 13 retractions
A research assistant at King Saud University (KSU) has lost his job after he used material from a student’s thesis without permission or attribution in a paper. Lakshmana Krishnappa was terminated after a disciplinary committee considered his case last November, the vice dean for postgraduate training and research at KSU told Retraction Watch. In April of last year, … Continue reading Research assistant fired for using student’s thesis in a paper
Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologist at Stanford, has for years been a behind-the-scenes force in scientific integrity, anonymously submitting reports on plagiarism and image duplication to journal editors. Now, she’s ready to come out of the shadows. With the help of two editors at microbiology journals, she has conducted a massive study looking for image duplication … Continue reading One in 25 papers contains inappropriately duplicated images, screen finds
A series of mistakes have caused a pair of cancer researchers based in China to retract one paper and correct another. The retraction stems from a duplication of figures in a paper about the molecular underpinnings of colorectal cancer, which the editor of the journal told us he believed was caused by honest error. The … Continue reading Mistakes lead to retraction, correction of cancer papers by pair
A researcher formerly based at the National Cancer Institute has earned three new retractions following an investigation that found she committed misconduct. In May of last year, Stephanie Watkins, who now works at Loyola Medicine, earned one two retraction, which mentions a review by an investigation committee at the National Institutes of Health. Two of the new notes, published in … Continue reading Cancer researcher earns 3 more retractions following NIH misconduct investigation