New concerns about a paper co-authored by Stanford president prompt journal to take a ‘closer look’
The journal Cell is opening its own review of research co-authored by Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, following new allegations about an altered image in a 1999 paper.
Minor concerns had been raised about alleged alterations in three images in this paper in the past. And a journal spokesperson confirmed that Tessier-Lavigne contacted Cell about those issues in 2015. At the time, the editors determined that no action was warranted. But last week, Elisabeth Bik, a scientific integrity expert who specializes in identifying manipulated images, identified more significant alterations in one of those images that appeared to have been intentional. “This actually changes everything,” she told STAT. “It’s a more severe level of digital altering.”
