Physicists with retraction for a “pattern that was unphysical” lose another for manipulation

In September, we wrote about the retraction of a physics paper for “a pattern that was unphysical.” The team, whose first author, R.K. Singhal refused to sign the notice, has had another paper retracted, this one in the Journal of Applied Physics. Here’s the notice for “Study of electronic structure and magnetization correlations in hydrogenated […]

Retracted Seralini GMO-rat study republished

A highly controversial — and retracted — 2012 study by Gilles Seralini and colleagues of the effects of genetically modified maize and the Roundup herbicide on rats has been republished. Retraction Watch readers may recall that the editor of Food and Chemical Toxicology decided to retract the heavily criticized paper because it was “inconclusive.” The editor, […]

Cancer genetics group retracts three papers for “inappropriate presentation of data”

A group of cancer genetics researchers in Italy and the U.S. has retracted three papers in the Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) after it became aware they had duplicated some bands in their figures. Here are the three papers: Regulation of β1C and β1A integrin expression in prostate carcinoma cells (published in 2004 and cited […]

Weekend reads: Scientific fraudster given royal honor; the Retraction Watch theme song!

Another busy week at Retraction Watch, with Ivan speaking in Vienna, at a PhD student retreat in nearby Zwettl, and in London. The retreat gave rise to “We Will Retract You,” which may just become the Retraction Watch theme song. Watch here. Here’s what was happening elsewhere: A surgeon given the honor of being made […]

Research technician faked NIH-funded research: ORI

Melanie Pallansch-Cokonis, a former research technician at Southern Research Institute, faked data in work funded by NIH contracts and grants, according to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI). According to the ORI’s case summary, available today in the Federal Register: ORI found that the Respondent engaged in research misconduct by falsifying assay data that were […]

Unusual: HIV vaccine researcher who faked data arrested, faces felony charges

Dong Pyou-Han, a former researcher at Iowa State University who spiked rabbit blood samples to make it look as though a potential HIV vaccine was working, was arrested earlier this week on felony charges. According to the Des Moines Register: The federal charges filed by Nicholas Klinefeldt, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of […]

Journal retracts stem cell study despite objections of most authors

The journal Blood has retracted a 2010 paper over the objections of most of its authors, two of whom were found by their university to have used “fraudulent methods” to obtain the data. We first reported on the case of Gerold Feuer last fall. The State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical Center in […]

Researcher who tampered with investigation up to 8 retractions

Karel Bezouška, the scientist who tried to derail an investigation into his work by breaking into a lab refrigerator has had an eighth paper retracted. Here’s the notice for “Synthetic N-Acetyl-d-glucosamine Based Fully Branched Tetrasaccharide, a Mimetic of the Endogenous Ligand for CD69, Activates CD69+ Killer Lymphocytes upon Dimerization via a Hydrophilic Flexible Linker:” The […]

Retraction of letter alleging sock puppetry now cites “legal reasons”

Earlier this month, we brought you the story of a retraction from the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology involving rivalry and alleged sock puppetry. The author of the now-retracted letter, physicist Lorenzo Iorio, claimed that another researcher was using fake names to criticize his work on arXiv.At the time, the editor […]

“Barriers to retraction may impede correction of the literature:” New study

One of the complaints we often hear about the self-correcting nature of science is that authors and editors seem very reluctant to retract papers with obvious fatal flaws. Indeed, it seems fairly clear that the number of papers retracted is smaller than the number of those that should be. To try to get a sense […]