Search Results for: physics

Award-winning Berkeley postdoc faked data, says federal watchdog

A former University of California, Berkeley postdoc in physics “engaged in research misconduct in research reported in a grant application” submitted to the NIH, according to the U.S. Office of Research Integrity. The postdoc, Shuo Chen, “reused an image of visual cortex neurons to represent fluorescence calcium imaging of hippocampal neurons,” the ORI said. Chen, … Continue reading Award-winning Berkeley postdoc faked data, says federal watchdog

Weekend reads: Journals’ Russia bans; a chronic fatigue syndrome retraction; a Twitter retraction notice feature?

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Authors request retraction of study in Nature journal and look into four more papers Study on teen pot use goes up in smoke, then reappears UNC-Chapel Hill vice chancellor resigns post after admitting to … Continue reading Weekend reads: Journals’ Russia bans; a chronic fatigue syndrome retraction; a Twitter retraction notice feature?

‘This is frankly insulting’: An author plagiarized by a journal editor speaks

The British Journal of Sports Medicine retracted an editorial late last week by Paul McCrory, a former editor of the journal. The publisher has joined the never-ending plagiarism euphemism parade. The retraction notice, which the journal embargoed until today despite having watermarked the editorial’s PDF “retracted” sometime Thursday or Friday, reads: “This article has been … Continue reading ‘This is frankly insulting’: An author plagiarized by a journal editor speaks

Publisher retracts 350 papers at once

IOP Publishing has retracted a total of 350 papers from two different 2021 conference proceedings because an “investigation has uncovered evidence of systematic manipulation of the publication process and considerable citation manipulation.” The case is just the latest involving the discovery of papers full of gibberish – aka “tortured phrases” – thanks to the work … Continue reading Publisher retracts 350 papers at once

Weekend reads: A White House official’s retraction; ‘bosom peril;’ nonsense with a forged authorship

Would you consider a donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Exclusive: How a researcher faked data and gaslit a labmate for years COVID-19 spike protein paper earns an expression of concern Frontiers retracts a dozen papers, many more expected Authors to correct PNAS ‘nudge’ … Continue reading Weekend reads: A White House official’s retraction; ‘bosom peril;’ nonsense with a forged authorship

Exclusive: How a researcher faked data and gaslit a labmate for years

Sometime in early 2019, a postdoc in a veterinary microbiology lab at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman came to suspect that a research assistant in her lab was fabricating data. The postdoc had noticed that the research assistant’s experiments always produced positive results, while hers were always negative. And the experiments she performed with … Continue reading Exclusive: How a researcher faked data and gaslit a labmate for years

Court tosses $50 billion suit by ‘prince of panspermia’ against Springer Nature

A neuroscientist once called the “prince of panspermia” has lost a lawsuit against Springer Nature stemming from a 2019 paper of his that a journal retracted. Here’s the summary from United States District Judge John P. Cronan, who heard the original case:

Another setback for ‘Majorana’ particle as Science paper earns an expression of concern

You might say that the third time is not the charm for a paper on some elusive fermions. For the third time this year, a leading science journal has raised concerns about a paper on the “Majorana” particle, which, if it exists, would hold promise for building a quantum computer. In March, Nature retracted a … Continue reading Another setback for ‘Majorana’ particle as Science paper earns an expression of concern

Paper retracted because authors ‘misrepresented a published theoretical model as if they had found it’

A physics journal has retracted a 2017 paper after learning that the authors had tried to pass off the ideas of others as their own.  Normally, we’d just call that a case of plagiarism and move on. But in this case, the charge goes a bit deeper – less cribbing a few lines of the … Continue reading Paper retracted because authors ‘misrepresented a published theoretical model as if they had found it’

Researcher uses fake email address to submit a paper mill manuscript without corresponding author’s knowledge

A Springer Nature journal has retracted a paper sourced from a paper mill – not an uncommon occurrence nowadays. What adds a bit of intrigue is that the manuscript was submitted with a fake email address to keep the alleged corresponding author from knowing about it. The paper, “Electrophysiological Follow-Up of Patients with Chronic Peripheral … Continue reading Researcher uses fake email address to submit a paper mill manuscript without corresponding author’s knowledge