Search Results for: pubpeer

Retracting duplicated paper “may damage the integrity of the literature,” says plant journal editor

In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology – Plant has flagged a 2004 article that was “accidentally” duplicated from another paper published earlier that year — but did so in the form of a publisher’s erratum, not a retraction. The editor of the journal justified the decision by arguing that the duplicated paper had been cited “over a … Continue reading Retracting duplicated paper “may damage the integrity of the literature,” says plant journal editor

Head of major diagnostic lab in Canada steps down amid investigation

A prominent endocrinologist pathologist has resigned from running the largest hospital diagnostic laboratory in Canada following an investigation that has uncovered evidence of falsified data in two papers, Retraction Watch has learned. Sylvia Asa was the Program Medical Director of the Laboratory Medicine Program at the University Health Network, affiliated with the University of Toronto, until this past … Continue reading Head of major diagnostic lab in Canada steps down amid investigation

Cell biologist Hanna issues two errata; images mysteriously disappear from Imgur

Cell biologist Jacob Hanna, the highly cited stem cell researcher currently at the Weizmann Institute of Science,  has posted a long erratum for a 2005 paper in Blood for “inadvertent mistakes,” among other issues; soon after, Hanna’s team issued another erratum for a 2009 Cell Stem Cell paper. There’s more to tell: Last month, commenters … Continue reading Cell biologist Hanna issues two errata; images mysteriously disappear from Imgur

Gynecologic cancer researcher up to 13 retractions

Noriyuki Takai, a gynecologic cancer researcher at Oita University in Japan, has lost another five papers. With a new total of 13, that means he’s now on our leaderboard. Three of the retractions are from the journal Tumor Biology, one is from the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, and one from Anticancer Research. Takai is the first author on all … Continue reading Gynecologic cancer researcher up to 13 retractions

Weekend reads: How to publish in Nature; social media circumvents peer review; impatience leads to fakery

The week at Retraction Watch featured a look at why a fraudster’s papers continued to earn citations after he went to prison, and criticism of Science by hundreds of researchers. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Gut paper retracted after university review says “figures cannot be validated by original data”

A biologist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Ohio has retracted a paper from Inflammatory Bowel Diseases after a university review found the figures within it could not be “validated by original data.” The 2010 paper, “Elevated IL-13Rα2 in intestinal epithelial cells from ulcerative colitis or colorectal cancer initiates MAPK pathway,” concerns the elevated expression … Continue reading Gut paper retracted after university review says “figures cannot be validated by original data”

JCI issues mega-correction for multiple myeloma paper

The Journal of Clinical Investigation has issued a lengthy correction to a paper about the role of the immune system in the progression and treatment response of multiple myeloma. The correction changes details from the name of an author to figure legends, and adds entire supplemental figures. Shortly after the paper’s publication on April 20th, commenters … Continue reading JCI issues mega-correction for multiple myeloma paper

High-profile biologist is suspended after two investigations found he “breached his duty of care”, committed “misconduct”

High-profile plant biologist Olivier Voinnet has been suspended for two years from the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) following the results of two investigations that revealed a number of issues in his publication record. An investigation at ETH Zurich found that the scientist “breached his duty of care in the handling of figures as well as in … Continue reading High-profile biologist is suspended after two investigations found he “breached his duty of care”, committed “misconduct”

Another author withdrawal from JBC earns another opaque notice

The authors of a 2014 study on the biochemical changes that can encourage the progression of cancer have withdrawn the paper from the Journal of Biological Chemistry. The post from the JBC – which we’ve noted are rarely helpful – doesn’t provide any details or reason for the withdrawal. As usual, this is all we … Continue reading Another author withdrawal from JBC earns another opaque notice

Corrections (and one EoC) propagate for distinguished plant biologist, Olivier Voinnet

There may be some deeply rooted issues in the work of high-profile plant biologist Olivier Voinnet, biology department research director at ETH in Zurich. Corrections have continued to pile up months after his work was hit with a barrage of criticism on PubPeer. We’ve tracked a total of seven corrections over the past five months (not including … Continue reading Corrections (and one EoC) propagate for distinguished plant biologist, Olivier Voinnet