Search Results for: press release

Texas participant in physics breakthrough repaid $5M in misspent funds

The Texas institute that participated in the groundbreaking gravitational waves discovery had to repay nearly $5 million in funding after misusing and misreporting benefits, according to audits obtained by The Monitor. The infractions occurred at The University of Texas Brownsville, which has since become part of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). Once the issues were … Continue reading Texas participant in physics breakthrough repaid $5M in misspent funds

German university recommends that six papers be retracted following probe

The University of Cologne has conducted an investigation into the research of Tina Wenz, and determined that six papers should be pulled due to scientific misconduct. In a release issued last week (as first reported by Leonid Schneider), the university lists six papers that “present scientific misconduct,” according to our Google Translate. One of the six … Continue reading German university recommends that six papers be retracted following probe

Finnish institute finds no evidence to support misconduct in diabetes paper

An investigation at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has found no evidence of misconduct by one of its former researchers in a diabetes paper. We previously reported on the case after the VTT was accused of cutting corners in a previous investigation into Matej Orešič (now based at the Steno Diabetes Center in … Continue reading Finnish institute finds no evidence to support misconduct in diabetes paper

Author objects to retraction of heart study, implies industry played role

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) has retracted a recently published paper that questioned the effectiveness of a treatment for irregular heartbeat, against the last author’s wishes.  Andrea Natale, the study’s last and corresponding author and Executive Medical Director of Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia at Austin, took to social media today to express his frustration in the … Continue reading Author objects to retraction of heart study, implies industry played role

We’ve seen computer-generated fake papers get published. Now we have computer-generated fake peer reviews.

Retraction Watch readers may recall that in 2014, publisher Springer and IEEE were forced to retract more than 120 conference proceedings because the papers were all fakes, written by the devilishly clever SCIgen program and somehow published after peer review. So perhaps it was inevitable that fake computer-generated peer reviews were next. In a chapter … Continue reading We’ve seen computer-generated fake papers get published. Now we have computer-generated fake peer reviews.

The story of an errant cylinder has been used for decades as a cautionary lab tale. But is it true?

In 1969, an entertaining tale of an errant cylinder was published in a pharmaceutical company’s internal newsletter. According to the story, a bunch of painters took six 220-cubic foot gas cylinders off their off their wall supports and put them to the side to allow the painting of an area. A painter, who was trying to … Continue reading The story of an errant cylinder has been used for decades as a cautionary lab tale. But is it true?

Former NIH postdoc doctored data

A genetics researcher included falsified data in two published papers, according to a report by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI) released today. At the time of the misconduct, Andrew Cullinane was a postdoctoral fellow in the Medical Genetics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). According to his LinkedIn page, he is now an assistant professor … Continue reading Former NIH postdoc doctored data

Scotland researcher suspended during misconduct probe: report

A prominent researcher in Scotland has been suspended amidst a misconduct investigation at the University of Dundee. According to The Scotsman, the allegations against Robert Ryan center around falsifying data and duplicating figures in his work about molecular bacteriology. As the outlet reports:

U Colorado’s former “golden boy” up to 7 retractions

A former graduate student at the University of Colorado Denver has gained three retractions and two expressions of concern (EOC), following an institutional probe into his work.  Last year, we reported on an investigation by the University of Colorado Denver into the research of Rajendra Kadam, which recommended retracting 10 papers. The report also flagged eight additional papers … Continue reading U Colorado’s former “golden boy” up to 7 retractions

Study of air quality around Damien Hirst’s artwork retracted — against most authors’ wishes

The corresponding author of the study that detected toxic leaks from the work of prominent British artist Damien Hirst has now retracted it — but most of his co-authors disagree with the decision. The April Analytical Methods study was covered extensively by the media when it suggested staff at Damien Hirst’s 2012 exhibition at Tate Gallery in London of dead animals … Continue reading Study of air quality around Damien Hirst’s artwork retracted — against most authors’ wishes