Eye researcher loses fourth paper for misconduct following Georgia, VA investigation

A biologist at the University of Georgia has lost a paper after an investigation revealed she had tampered with three images. In 2014, Azza El-Remessy notched three retractions for a series of image errors. Now, a fourth retraction notice, and an expression of concern, explain there has been an investigation into her work. The investigation — conducted by two […]

The post Eye researcher loses fourth paper for misconduct following Georgia, VA investigation appeared first on Retraction Watch.

Would peer review work better if reviewers talked to each other?

Would distributing all reviewers’ reports for a specific paper amongst every referee before deciding whether to accept or reject a manuscript make peer review fairer and quicker? This idea — called “cross-referee commenting” — is being implemented by the journal Development, as part of its attempt to improve the peer-review process. Katherine Brown, executive editor of Development from Cambridge, UK, who co-authored a recent editorial […]

The post Would peer review work better if reviewers talked to each other? appeared first on Retraction Watch.

Five more retractions for biologist with funding ban brings total to six

An erstwhile cell biologist has retracted five papers published in the Journal of Cell Science (JCS), all of which had been flagged in a recent investigation by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI). The investigation found John Pastorino, previously a cell biologist at Rowan University in New Jersey, guilty of doctoring more than 40 […]

The post Five more retractions for biologist with funding ban brings total to six appeared first on Retraction Watch.

Authors reused images in three papers, concludes journal probe

Biologists are retracting three papers after the journal concluded they contain reused images, designed to represent different experiments. The authors stand by the conclusions, some of which they say have been “extensively validated.” The Journal of Biological Chemistry used image analysis software to evaluate the images, first published at least a decade ago. Unfortunately, the raw […]

The post Authors reused images in three papers, concludes journal probe appeared first on Retraction Watch.

New Jersey university biologist earns funding ban for doctoring more than 40 images

A researcher has agreed to a five-year ban on Federal U.S. funding for research after the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) determined that he had falsified or fabricated more than 40 images in nine papers. The findings, released by the ORI today, are another chapter in a case involving John Pastorino, a cell biologist at […]

The post New Jersey university biologist earns funding ban for doctoring more than 40 images appeared first on Retraction Watch.

Authors correct highly cited biology paper due to “genuine mistake”

Authors of a highly cited biology paper in the Journal of Cell Science (JCS) have corrected the data underlying one of the figures. The 2003 paper, “The transcription factor Slug represses E-cadherin expression and induces epithelial to mesenchymal transitions: a comparison with Snail and E47 repressors,” has been cited 566 times, according to Thomson Reuters Web […]

The post Authors correct highly cited biology paper due to “genuine mistake” appeared first on Retraction Watch.

Journals flag 6 papers, request investigation of New Jersey university biologists

Two journals have published six expressions of concern for a pair of biologists at Rowan University, and are asking the university to undertake an investigation. We contacted the editors of the two journals — Journal of Cell Science and Biology Open — who both said they decided to flag the papers after a reader raised […]

The post Journals flag 6 papers, request investigation of New Jersey university biologists appeared first on Retraction Watch.

Sun sets on Sun Yat-sen University cell bio paper

Researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in China have lost a paper in the Journal of Cell Science for “inappropriate figure manipulations,” which they blame entirely on the first author. According to the notice, three figures were “inappropriately modified” — cells or nuclei were moved, and the edges of cell images were trimmed. The researchers place the […]

The post Sun sets on Sun Yat-sen University cell bio paper appeared first on Retraction Watch.

Prominent geneticist David Latchman’s group notches second retraction

A team of researchers whose work is under investigation by University College London has retracted a second paper. Three of the 11 authors of the 2005 Journal of Cell Science paper being retracted — David Latchman, Richard Knight, and Anastasis Stephanou — were authors of a Journal of Biological Chemistry paper retracted in January. Stephanou […]

The post Prominent geneticist David Latchman’s group notches second retraction appeared first on Retraction Watch.

University College London mitochondrial biologist resigns after three retractions for image fraud

Courtesy Nature Publishing Group

A biologist at University College London (UCL) has resigned his post and taken responsibility for “inappropriate figures manipulations” in three now-retracted papers.

Assegid Garedew, formerly a senior research investigator in Salvador Moncada‘s group, stepped down earlier this summer in the midst of an investigation that should be completed soon, Moncada tells Retraction Watch.

The three retraction notices for papers by Garedew and colleagues are all similar.

From Cell Metabolism: “Mitochondrial Dynamics, Biogenesis, and Function Are Coordinated with the Cell Cycle by APC/CCDH1“, cited once, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge:

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).This article has been retracted at the request of the Authors.We have recently identified errors affecting several figure panels in Figures 4, 5, and S4, in which control data were processed inappropriately such that the figure panels do not accurately report the original data. While the conclusions reached in this paper may be sound, given the circumstances, the most responsible course of action is to retract the paper. A.G. regrets the inappropriate figure manipulations, of which his coauthors were completely unaware. We sincerely apologize to the scientific community for any confusion or adverse consequences resulting from the publication of these data.

From the Journal of Cell Science: “Mitochondrial dysfunction and HIF1α stabilization in inflammation,” a paper cited eight times:

The authors wish to retract the above paper. We have recently identified errors affecting certain figure panels in Fig. 5 in which control data were processed inappropriately such that the figure panels do not accurately report the original data. The misuse and re-use of western blot bands violates the editorial policy of Journal of Cell Science, and so we must retract this article. A. G. regrets the inappropriate figure manipulations, of which his co-author was completely unaware.

We sincerely apologize to the scientific community for any confusion or adverse consequences resulting from the publication of these data.

From Cell Death and Diffrentiation: “Activated macrophages utilize glycolytic ATP to maintain mitochondrial membrane potential and prevent apoptotic cell death,” cited 17 times:

The authors wish to retract the above paper. We have recently identified errors affecting certain panels in Figure 6, in which data were processed in such a way that the figure panels do not reflect the original data. AG regrets the inappropriate figure manipulations, of which his co-authors were completely unaware. Although we believe that the conclusions reached in this paper are essentially sound, we feel that the most responsible course of action is to retract the paper. We sincerely apologize to the scientific community for any confusion or adverse consequences resulting from the publication of these data.

Moncada tells us:

There has been an investigation at UCL which is about to be completed. It indicates that the person solely responsible for the fraud leading to the retraction of the three papers is Dr Garedew. He has admitted this and resigned as a senior research investigator in my group on the 19th June. We do not expect to retract any other paper from this laboratory since Dr Garedew was not involved in any of the other research projects.