Structure error sinks NIH-MIT-SNU peptide paper

A mistake in structure identification has sunk a paper by researchers at the NIH, MIT, and Seoul National University in the Cell Press journal Chemistry and Biology. Here’s the notice for “Peptide-Based Inhibitors of Plk1 Polo-box Domain Containing Mono-anionic Phosphothreonine Esters and Their Pivaloyloxymethyl Prodrugs”:

Deceased researcher has two more papers retracted

A late researcher in Italy who has already been blamed for image manipulation in a PLOS ONE retraction notice has had two more papers retracted, both from Free Radical Biology and Medicine. Here’s the notice for 2007’s “Redox regulation of 7-ketocholesterol-induced apoptosis by β-carotene in human macrophages,” by Paola Palozza and colleagues:

Economics paper retracted for plagiarism after citing its twin

As we’ve pointed out before, economics and business journals have few retractions compared with the other academic literature. Opinions vary on why this is, but the fact that only a few journals have plagiarism policies can’t help. Research Papers in Economics, or RePEc, an organization that maintains a database of economics papers, however, thoroughly investigates … Continue reading Economics paper retracted for plagiarism after citing its twin

Diabetes researcher Cory Toth now up to nine retractions

Cory Toth is up to nine retractions. The University of Calgary researcher who told us earlier this year that he “will not be publishing in the world of science in the future” has retracted two papers from Neuroscience. Here’s the notice for “Local erythropoietin signaling enhances regeneration in peripheral axons:”

“Our jaws hit the floor!!” Researchers say authors doctored images for rebuttal letter

Try to follow along on this one. We think it’s worth it. The authors of a letter replying to a comment in a urology journal have retracted their response because it contained inappropriate figures. At least, that’s the official story. The original paper, “Effect of a Risk-stratified Grade of Nerve-sparing Technique on Early Return of … Continue reading “Our jaws hit the floor!!” Researchers say authors doctored images for rebuttal letter

Crystal confusion leads to retractions for optics researchers

A mistaken molecular structure has led to a retraction and a withdrawal for group in India studying optical crystals. Here’s the notice for “Crystal growth and spectroscopic characterization of Aloevera amino acid added lithium sulfate monohydrate: A non-linear optical crystal” in Spectrochimica Acta Part A:

Cell retraction of Alzheimer’s study is second for Tufts neuroscientist

A researcher at Tufts University has retracted a paper in Cell, a year after retracting a study on a similar subject from the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Here’s the notice for “SIRT1 Suppresses β-Amyloid Production by Activating the α-Secretase Gene ADAM10,” a 2010 paper by Tufts’ Gizem Donmez, MIT’s Leonard Guarante — of longevity research … Continue reading Cell retraction of Alzheimer’s study is second for Tufts neuroscientist

Hydrogen journal pulls palladium paper for data misuse

The International Journal of Hydrogen Energy is retracting a 2013 article for what appears to be the misappropriation of data. The paper,  titled “Hydrogen production by an anaerobic photocatalytic reforming using palladium nanoparticle on boron and nitrogen doped TiO2 catalysts,” was written by researchers from the Veltech Dr RR & Dr SR Technical University, in Chennai, … Continue reading Hydrogen journal pulls palladium paper for data misuse

UT-Southwestern cancer research group notches ninth retraction

A research team at the University of Texas-Southwestern that has retracted eight papers for image manipulation has retracted another, this one in Lung Cancer. Here’s the notice for “Aberrant methylation of Reprimo in lung cancer,” published by Adi Gazdar’s group:

Diabetes researcher Cory Toth up to seven retractions

A University of Calgary diabetes researcher, Cory Toth, who told us earlier this year that he would cease publishing in the scientific literature, has two more retractions, making seven. Both appear in Neurobiology of Disease. Here’s the notice for “Differential impact of diabetes and hypertension in the brain: Adverse effects in white matter:”