Rui Curi
A few weeks ago, we reported on the shutdown of Science-Fraud.org, a site dedicated to highlighting problems with scientific papers, thanks to legal threats. At the same time, we noted that Rui Curi, one of the authors whose work had been questioned — and whose lawyers had sent the site a cease-and-desist letter — ended up retracting a paper the site had questioned.
Now, Curi has corrected another paper that featured on Science-Fraud.org. Here’s the notice: for “Comparative toxicity of oleic and linoleic acid on human lymphocytes,” which was originally published in Life Science in 2006:
After the publication of this manuscript we found a mistake in Fig. 3. The same image was used for human lymphocytes treated with 100 μM of oleic acid and linoleic acid for 24 h. The representative images have been replaced. The legends, results, discussion and conclusions remain as in the original article. Please, accept our apologies and refer to the correct corresponding Fig. 3 that we provide in this corrigendum.
Fig. 3. Effects of oleic or linoleic acids on chromatin condensation. Human lymphocytes were stained with Hoechst 33342 and incubated for 10 min at room temperature in the dark to visualize DNA after treatment for 24 h with 100 and 200 μM of oleic or linoleic acid. Cells were examined by fluorescence microscopy for determination of chromatin condensation using a 365/80 nm filter.
The paper has been cited 39 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.
We’ve contacted Curi to find out whether he had any other corrections or retractions planned, and will update with anything we learn.