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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127 papers from India retracted for image duplication, manipulation
The searchable database of retracted papers launched by RetractionWatch shows 982 papers from India have been retracted so far. Of these, 330 have been retracted for plagiarism and, surprisingly, 118 papers for image duplication and/or manipulation. The number of papers retracted for image issues has suddenly increased since 2016, with 37 papers retracted in 2018 … Continue reading 127 papers from India retracted for image duplication, manipulation
‘Tenure track system: Incentivising performance better than making insecurity as a model’
MHRD has called for a meeting of all seven IISER directors to discuss the merits of tenure track system and alternative systems for evaluating the performance of new faculty members before they are made permanent. The directors have been asked to send their views prior to the meeting. A meeting of all seven directors of … Continue reading ‘Tenure track system: Incentivising performance better than making insecurity as a model’
Paper publication prior to PhD thesis submission rule may go
Balaram committee has recommended to do away with the current UGC rule requiring PhD students to publish a paper prior to thesis submission. Many institutions have abdicated the responsibility for PhD quality by outsourcing it to journals, says Prof. Balaram. Prof. VijayRaghavan's alternative solution is to allow students to submit thesis chapters to a preprint server … Continue reading Paper publication prior to PhD thesis submission rule may go
Chitra Mandal of CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology admits to ‘unintentional mistakes’; Nine more papers listed on Pubpeer
Dr. Chitra Mandal of CSIR-IICB has admitted to “unintentional mistakes” in her papers. Dr. Elisabeth M. Bik and another person have identified additional nine papers with image manipulation and/or duplication. With this the total number of papers with problematic images stands at 28. The last word has not been said yet. There important things happened … Continue reading Chitra Mandal of CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology admits to ‘unintentional mistakes’; Nine more papers listed on Pubpeer
19 papers of Chitra Mandal from CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology have duplicated images
Dr. Chitra Mandal, a SERB Distinguished Fellow at the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, has 19 papers listed on Pubpeer for image manipulation and/or duplication. She is the corresponding author in 17 papers. All the problematic images were double-checked by an independent expert. All the papers of Dr. Mandal that have been listed on … Continue reading 19 papers of Chitra Mandal from CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology have duplicated images
Interview: Scientists found guilty will face suitable disciplinary action, says Shekhar Mande
The committee formed on June 3 has been given a defined time period, with a request to complete the investigations as speedily as possible, Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, Director-General of CSIR tells me. The committee has been asked to be objective, fair, and fiercely impartial in their investigations as a former CSIR-IITR director and the … Continue reading Interview: Scientists found guilty will face suitable disciplinary action, says Shekhar Mande
CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute has 33 papers with manipulated, duplicated images
Papers published with manipulated and duplicated images seem to be a problem not just with CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research. With 33 papers with similar problems, the CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute is only a few shades better than CSIR-IITR. The good news is that there are several scientists from CSIR-CDRI with no record on Pubpeer, … Continue reading CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute has 33 papers with manipulated, duplicated images
CSIR-IITR case is being investigated speedily: CSIR Director-General Shekhar Mande
CSIR Director-General Dr. Shekhar C Mande in response to a Facebook comment said that the CSIR-IITR case is “being investigated speedily”. His comment came after I posted the third article citing 24 additional papers (taking the total to 130) containing manipulated and/or duplicated images. Today, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) finally broke … Continue reading CSIR-IITR case is being investigated speedily: CSIR Director-General Shekhar Mande
Another 24 papers with image manipulation, duplication from CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research
With 24 additional papers containing manipulated, duplicated images, the total number of problematic papers from CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research is 130. The huge number raises a serious issue for science journalists — how do we trust the claims made in papers published even in peer-reviewed journals? If Pubpeer.com website does not surprise me anymore, … Continue reading Another 24 papers with image manipulation, duplication from CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research
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