Weekend reads: Trying unsuccessfully to correct the scientific record; drug company funding and research
There were lots of pieces about scientific misconduct, publishing, and related issues posted around the web this week, so without further ado:
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Data manipulation knocks bird virus paper off perch
The Journal of Virology has retracted a 2010 article on avian viruses marred by signs of bogus data. The paper, “Avian Reovirus Nonstructural Protein p17-Induced G2/M Cell Cycle Arrest and Host Cellular Protein Translation Shutoff Involve Activation of p53-Dependent Pathways,” came from a group at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, in Pingtung, China. … Continue reading Data manipulation knocks bird virus paper off perch
Japan officials allege data cooking in Alzheimer’s drug study
Japanese health officials are reportedly investigating whether researchers fabricated data in a 2.8 billion yen ($21.12 million) Alzheimer’s drug trial. According to Japan Today: Health officials said they were questioning researchers after being told false data was used in clinical testing for the 2.8 billion yen government-backed Alzheimer’s study, aimed at improving diagnosis of the … Continue reading Japan officials allege data cooking in Alzheimer’s drug study
Fourth retraction results from Cardiff investigation
Researchers have retracted a fourth paper following an investigation at Cardiff University that found evidence of image manipulation by a researcher named Rossen Donev. Here’s the notice for “The mouse complement regulator CD59b is significantly expressed only in testis and plays roles in sperm acrosome activation and motility,” a paper first published in Molecular Immunology … Continue reading Fourth retraction results from Cardiff investigation
Weekend reads: Most scientific fraudsters keep their jobs, random acts of academic kindness, and more
A bumper crop of material about misconduct, peer review, and related issues came to our attention this week, so without further ado:
Emory cardiology researcher up to six retractions
R. Wayne Alexander, a cardiology researcher at Emory whose lab has retracted four papers following university investigations, has notched retractions five and six. Here’s the notice from Circulation Research:
Danish commitee finds Klarlund Pedersen, Penkowa guilty of scientific dishonesty
Two researchers in Denmark are guilty of scientific dishonesty, the Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty (DCSD, Danish acronym UVVU) has concluded. In July, the DCSD said in a draft report that Bente Klarlund Pedersen had acted in a “scientifically dishonest” and “grossly negligent” manner. She — and many of her defenders — responded by saying … Continue reading Danish commitee finds Klarlund Pedersen, Penkowa guilty of scientific dishonesty
UCLA probe ends in retraction for neuroscience post-doc
The Journal of Neuroscience has retracted a 2011 paper by a group of UCLA researchers after the institution concluded that a post-doc at the institution had falsified data. The article, “Epigenetic Enhancement of BDNF Signaling Rescues Synaptic Plasticity in Aging,” came from the lab of Cui-Wei “Tracy” Xie, a behavioral scientist. It has been cited 42 … Continue reading UCLA probe ends in retraction for neuroscience post-doc
Journal takes different tacks on two cancer papers with image problems
Carcinogenesis has the publishing world’s version of a twin problem: two dysfunctional articles yet one gets retracted while the other merely suffers a correction. Is it nature — or nurture? Here are the details. One article, “Chemopreventive effect of dietary glutamine on colitis-associated colon tumorigenesis in mice,” came from a group in China. Published earlier … Continue reading Journal takes different tacks on two cancer papers with image problems
Herbicide-ovarian cancer study to be retracted
The authors of a 2008 study purporting to explain how the herbicide atrazine acts on cancer cells have asked the journal that published it to retract it for “inadvertent errors,” Retraction Watch has learned. The notice for “G-Protein-Coupled Receptor 30 and Estrogen Receptor-a are Involved in the Proliferative Effects Induced by Atrazine in Ovarian Cancer … Continue reading Herbicide-ovarian cancer study to be retracted