The week at Retraction Watch featured two high-profile resignations linked to the Paolo Macchiarini case, as well as a Q&A with a long-frustrated — and now vindicated — whistleblower. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:
Anders Hamsten announced he would be resigning as vice-chancellor from Karolinska Institutet (KI) in the early hours of Saturday, February 13. In a press release we received at 12:16 a.m. local time in Stockholm, Hamsten issued the following statement: Following the criticism on the so called Macchiarini affair at KI I conclude it will be hard … Continue reading Karolinska vice-chancellor resigns following criticism of Macchiarini investigation
The week at Retraction Watch featured a paper on reincarnation being retracted because it was plagiarized from Wikipedia, the swift retraction of a paper claiming that women’s makeup use was tied to testosterone levels, and a lot of news about trachea surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:
An investigation at the University of New South Wales in Australia has led to a fifth retraction for a cancer researcher long accused of misconduct, due to “unresolvable concerns” with some images. As we reported in December, UNSW cleared Levon Khachigian of misconduct, concluding that his previous issues stemmed from “genuine error or honest oversight.” Now, Circulation Research is retracting one … Continue reading Investigation prompts 5th retraction for cancer researcher for “unresolvable concerns”
If you notice an obvious problem with a paper in your field, it should be relatively easy to alert the journal’s readers to the issue, right? Unfortunately, for a group of nutrition researchers led by David B. Allison at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, that is not their experience. Allison and his co-author Andrew Brown … Continue reading Want to correct the scientific literature? Good luck
A recent recipient of an early career award now under investigation by granting agency EMBO told us today that last week’s retraction in Nature Genetics stemmed solely from an “embarrassing error,” and she hopes to republish the data in a new paper. Last week was rough for Sonia Melo: Nature Genetics retracted one of her papers, … Continue reading “There was no effort to commit fraud,” says EMBO awardee under investigation
EMBO has taken back an award given to beleaguered plant biologist Olivier Voinnet in 2009, and is investigating a recent grantee who had a paper retracted from Nature Genetics yesterday. The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) “promotes excellence in the life sciences” in Europe, in part by awarding prizes to promising young scientists. Voinnet and Sonia Melo earned their awards by … Continue reading EMBO takes back Voinnet’s award, investigates other awardee who just lost a Nature Genetics paper
The Journal of Biological Chemistry has flagged two papers by a George Washington University cancer biologist with expressions of concern, following an investigation completed by the university in 2014. The notes contain little specific information; all we know is that there are questions about the data and conclusions in the papers. The last author on … Continue reading Following an earlier investigation, GW biologist earns two expressions of concern
The Swiss National Science Foundation has stopped funding prominent plant scientist Olivier Voinnet, following months of questions about his work that have culminated in multiple retractions and corrections. The agency confirmed to us that it has also banned Voinnet from seeking funding from the SNSF for three years. We asked the SNSF the amount of funding … Continue reading Swiss funding agency cuts off Voinnet, bans him for 3 years
An Ontario court has quashed part of a misconduct finding against a prominent husband and wife team by the University Health Network in Toronto. Last year, we reported that Sylvia Asa had stepped down from her position as Program Medical Director of the Laboratory Medicine Program at the UHN — the largest hospital diagnostic laboratory in Canada — after an investigation uncovered evidence of … Continue reading Ontario court quashes part of misconduct finding for prominent pair