Correction cites “unreliable” data in paper by researchers at center of Duke lawsuit

A researcher charged with embezzlement — and now the subject of a multi-million dollar lawsuit — has earned another correction, again citing “unreliable” data. But this doesn’t appear to be a run-of-the-mill correction notice. Firstly, it affects a paper co-authored by Erin Potts-Kant and William Foster, former Duke employees now being sued (along with Duke) … Continue reading Correction cites “unreliable” data in paper by researchers at center of Duke lawsuit

Researcher who sued to stop retractions earns his 8th

Mario Saad, a diabetes researcher who once sued to stop a publisher from retracting his papers, has just received his eighth retraction. Critical Care has retracted a 2012 paper about treating sepsis, citing extensive similarities between figures within the paper and 10 others. Here’s the full notice for “Diacerhein attenuates the inflammatory response and improves … Continue reading Researcher who sued to stop retractions earns his 8th

A significant cardiology retraction; second retraction from Case Western biologist; and more you may have missed

A number of readers contacted us last week to let us know that their email alerts had stopped arriving. We’ve now fixed that problem, which had to do with a software update. With apologies for the technical glitch, here’s a roundup (from a Friday post, which wasn’t delivered by email) of posts for which emails … Continue reading A significant cardiology retraction; second retraction from Case Western biologist; and more you may have missed

Weekend reads: Macchiarini guilty of misconduct; controversial PACE data to be released; gender bias at conferences

This week at Retraction Watch featured the return of a notorious fraudster, and plagiarism of plagiarism. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Posts you may have missed: Student loses PhD, controversial data to be released

We’ve got some late-breaking news to report — plus, it’s been a busy news week overall, and some of our email alerts didn’t go out, due to a programming glitch. Below, here are some recent stories you may have missed. A tribunal at Queen Mary University of London has decided to disclose the data from the … Continue reading Posts you may have missed: Student loses PhD, controversial data to be released

Spanish lab admits to image manipulation, retracts one paper, corrects another

A group has retracted one paper and corrected another in the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) for image manipulations. Last author José G. Castaño told us the manipulation occurred at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where he and one other co-author are based. He declined to name who was responsible. Here’s the retraction notice for “Cytomegalovirus promoter up-regulation is the major cause … Continue reading Spanish lab admits to image manipulation, retracts one paper, corrects another

Despite apology, bagpipes study not slated for retraction

It’s not often that a paper elicits an apology — but that’s just what happened when family members first learned a bagpipe musician died from inhaling mold and fungi from a case study reported in a journal. The hospital has since apologized; the journal, however, told us it is not planning to issue a retraction. The … Continue reading Despite apology, bagpipes study not slated for retraction

Peer review manipulation fells another study

A spectroscopy journal has retracted a 2016 study after concluding that its editors had been misled by a fake review. According to the retraction notice, the journal — Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy — accepted the paper due to positive feedback from someone assuming the identity of an expert reviewer, using an … Continue reading Peer review manipulation fells another study

Retraction appears for group whose former member was sanctioned by ORI

Researchers whose former colleague was recently reprimanded by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI) have retracted a biology paper for duplication. The retraction includes some familiar names: The last author Steven Grant, senior author of the newly retracted study, is also the last author of 11 papers flagged in a report by the ORI in December, 2015. That report … Continue reading Retraction appears for group whose former member was sanctioned by ORI

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