Search Results for: author ban

Plant biologist’s paper pulled for falsification, three more questioned on PubPeer

Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants has retracted a paper about using Darjeeling tea clones against abiotic stress for problems with one of the figures. The specific problem: “falsification/fabrication” of data underlying the figure, which the corresponding author — Sauren Das from the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta, West Bengal — couldn’t resolve. Das told us … Continue reading Plant biologist’s paper pulled for falsification, three more questioned on PubPeer

Raw files help fix 2003 figure by heart researcher accused of fraud

A researcher accused of misconduct by an anonymous Japanese blogger has corrected a 2003 paper in Circulation Research, after providing a university investigation with the original source files. Allegations of fraud have dogged Shokei Kim-Mitsuyama for years, and even caused him to step down from his position as editor in chief at another journal. However, Kim-Mitsuyama and his … Continue reading Raw files help fix 2003 figure by heart researcher accused of fraud

Journals retract two heart papers with “nearly identical” abstracts

Journals have retracted two papers after realizing that they contain “nearly identical” abstracts and introductions, published only months apart.  The two retracted papers, along with a third that also contains similar text, all conclude that a certain polymorphism could signal a risk for coronary artery disease among Chinese people, though each paper presents different data. … Continue reading Journals retract two heart papers with “nearly identical” abstracts

One in 25 papers contains inappropriately duplicated images, screen finds

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

Plant scientist Voinnet’s correction count grows to 22

We have found another correction for high-profile plant scientist Olivier Voinnet, bringing his total count to 22. Voinnet, who works at ETH Zurich, also has seven retractions, a funding ban, and a revoked award. Voinnet’s most recent corrections involve problems with figures; the same issue is cited in this latest correction notice, for “Competition for XPO5 binding between Dicer mRNA, … Continue reading Plant scientist Voinnet’s correction count grows to 22

Three HER2-cancer review papers tagged with expressions of concern

The Oncologist has tagged three review papers that share a first author with an expression of concern. The three papers, which have together been cited more than 1,000 times, focus on HER2, a gene that can contribute to breast cancer. Though the papers contain errors, the conclusions — about how the HER2 gene serves as … Continue reading Three HER2-cancer review papers tagged with expressions of concern

Physicists retract Nature paper on Earth’s core after findings aren’t reproducible

Physicists have retracted a highly cited paper from Nature on the behavior of electrons at the center of the Earth after other researchers could not reproduce their findings. The 2015 paper earned coverage in Science News and Live Science, where co-author Ronald Cohen explained: There was a big problem in how you generate a magnetic field, and now, because of our … Continue reading Physicists retract Nature paper on Earth’s core after findings aren’t reproducible

“Science advances incrementally:” Researchers who debunked gay canvassing study move field forward

How easy is it to change people’s minds? In 2014, a Science study suggested that a short conversation could have a lasting impact on people’s opinions about gay marriage – but left readers disappointed when it was retracted only months later, after the first author admitted to falsifying some of the details of the study, … Continue reading “Science advances incrementally:” Researchers who debunked gay canvassing study move field forward

Peer reviewer stole text for her own dentistry paper, says journal investigation

Following a “thorough investigation,” the Journal of Conservative Dentistry (JCD) has retracted a paper after concluding that the first author stole the text from another paper when peer reviewing it for a different journal.  The JCD decided that the 2013 paper about white spot lesions and inhibiting the growth of the bacteria Streptococcus mutans in the mouth is a “verbatim copy” … Continue reading Peer reviewer stole text for her own dentistry paper, says journal investigation

Scientific misconduct and sexual harassment: Similar problems with similar solutions?

Today colleges and universities face a crisis of accountability in two domains: scientific misconduct and sexual harassment or assault.  Scientific misconduct and sexual harassment/assault are obviously different, but the way they are reported, handled, and play out have many similarities. Michael Chwe at the University of California in Los Angeles has been thinking about this for … Continue reading Scientific misconduct and sexual harassment: Similar problems with similar solutions?