A group of 16 scientists has written an open letter to Dr Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet and authors of the Russia's Sputnik V novel coronavirus vaccine trial paper, raising questions about the integrity of the data published in The Lancet on September 4. Just four days after the results of the Phase-1/2 trials … Continue reading Scientists alert Lancet to ‘data inconsistencies’ in the Russian vaccine trial paper
Research fraud
Lancet retracts letter on plight of nurses treating COVID-19 patients
The Lancet Global Health retracts a letter about the plight of nurses treating COVID-19 patients in Wuhan published on February 26. Can editors of peer-reviewed journals take a moral high-ground and make disparaging comments about preprints? On February 26, The Lancet Global Health retracted a letter by two nurses from Guangzhou province just two days … Continue reading Lancet retracts letter on plight of nurses treating COVID-19 patients
Investigation into papers with problematic images complete, report submitted: CSIR director-general
An independent committee formed by CSIR in early June 2019 to investigate into image duplication and/or manipulation in published papers has submitted its report to CSIR Director-General Dr. Shekhar Mande. The report will be sent to the directors of four-five CSIR labs, which were investigated, for necessary action. An independent committee that was formed in … Continue reading Investigation into papers with problematic images complete, report submitted: CSIR director-general
UGC’s half-hearted attempt to teach research ethics
Finally, UGC is set to introduce a course for PhD students on research and publication ethics. Ironically, the course will not be teaching even the basics of preparing images for publication. India has the highest probability of containing problematic images in published papers. After years of ignoring the elephant in the room, the University Grants … Continue reading UGC’s half-hearted attempt to teach research ethics
NEJM retracts Chandigarh doctors’ image for plagiarism, case concoction
Indian doctors at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh have their 'Image in Clinical Medicine' photo published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) retracted. It is not only a case of image plagiarism, but concoction of a medical case they never came across. If by now researchers in India have become aware … Continue reading NEJM retracts Chandigarh doctors’ image for plagiarism, case concoction
IISc professor has two papers retracted, three corrected for image issues
Two papers of Prof. Kithiganahalli N. Balaji from IISc have been retracted and three more have been corrected for issues with images, including duplication and undeclared gel splices. Two more papers of his have been listed on PubPeer website. On December 13, 2019, two papers of Prof. Kithiganahalli N. Balaji from the Department of Microbiology … Continue reading IISc professor has two papers retracted, three corrected for image issues
ICMR-NICED scientist has 16 papers with duplicated, manipulated images
Dr. Mamta Chawla-Sarkar, a senior scientist at ICMR's NICED has 16 papers listed on PubPeer for image duplication and/or manipulation. Six of these papers were published when she was a Post-doc in Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Science. A senior scientist — Dr. Mamta Chawla-Sarkar — … Continue reading ICMR-NICED scientist has 16 papers with duplicated, manipulated images
Authorship in 73 journal papers from India up for sale
A Russian website has listed 344 papers accepted for publication by journals from different countries where authorship is available for a fee. There are 73 papers listed from journals based in India, which is the highest. Web of Science Group, Clarivate Analytics is investigating to identify the journals. There are many things that remain unclear. … Continue reading Authorship in 73 journal papers from India up for sale
65 papers from India retracted for image falsification/fabrication, errors
Among papers retracted in chemistry and material sciences in 2017-2018, 17.2% was from India though only 7.3% papers from India were published, thus contributing to 2.4-fold difference between retractions and papers published. With 18 papers, Dr. Rashmi Madhuri and Dr. Prashant Sharma from IIT Dhanbad had the “largest clusters of retractions in the two-year period”. … Continue reading 65 papers from India retracted for image falsification/fabrication, errors
Manipulation within a photo should always result in a retraction: Elisabeth Bik
Scrutinising images for tell-tale signs of manipulation is no longer a hobby for Dr. Elisabeth Bik; it has become a passion. The passion has become so overpowering that she has taken a “year off from paid work to focus more on science misconduct volunteer work”. She has voluminous papers to report on and a mountain … Continue reading Manipulation within a photo should always result in a retraction: Elisabeth Bik
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