Mistakes happen in research papers. But corrections often don’t
Mistakes happen — in life, in the lab, and, inevitably, in research papers, too. Journals use corrections and retractions to resolve those mistakes. But one particularly high-profile case is now drawing fresh attention to the problems with journals’ process for addressing concerns about research integrity.
Late last year, Stanford University announced that it was opening an investigation into its president, neuroscientist Marc Tessier-Lavigne, over allegations of research misconduct. Five studies co-authored by Tessier-Lavigne are now under the microscope for containing alleged altered images: a 1999 Cell study, a 2008 paper in the EMBO Journal, a 2003 Nature study, and two studies published in 2001 in Science. Cell, EMBO, and Science have each opened their own investigations into the articles, and both Science and Cell have published “editorial expressions of concern” for the papers, which warn readers that the information in the articles may be questionable, but stop short of making corrections or retractions.
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