In 2023, a professor from Henan University had 19 articles questioned on the Pubpeer website for academic misconduct, including the reuse of images.
Recently, the author of one of the questioned papers responded on Pubpeer, stating that they had submitted a correction to the journal. As of now, two of the questioned articles have been retracted by the journal, and some others are still undergoing corrections.
However, more memorable than these routine actions is the response from an author facing scrutiny years ago: “Our database was attacked by a virus, and the images were confused due to lost tags, it’s just terrible.”
Image source: PubPeer
However, netizens were not convinced and raised a soul-searching question: “The first authors of several papers are different; were they all working in the lab at the same time, sharing one computer?”
It must be said that in order to explain their misuse of images, the authors have really tried hard, even coming up with such a bizarre reason as a computer virus. But compared to a computer virus, some people have given even more ridiculous excuses to cover their lies.
“Teacher, my homework was taken by a dog.”
Compared to a reason like “computer virus,” in the research community, “lost computer” might be a more widely used excuse, after all, if the computer is lost, all original data is gone, making it impossible to investigate whether data was fabricated.
In 2016, the journal Science published an article titled “Environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastic particles influence larval fish ecology”, exploring the impact of microplastics in the ocean on larval sea bass.
Image source: Science
Originally, this matter was supposed to end here, with the author making a name for themselves in a top journal and a bright future ahead, but soon someone discovered issues with the paper.
According to news reports, a colleague of the first author, after reading this major work, found that the scale of the experiments described in the paper differed significantly from the actual situation, indicating that something was amiss. Therefore, he reported his colleague to the journal.
However, the first author Oona Lönnstedt was not to be outdone and quickly came up with a reason to respond to the criticism: “Sorry, the three photos documenting the experiment were lost along with my laptop.”
Clearly, such a flimsy excuse was destined to fall flat. Fabrication is still fabrication, and after an investigation, the journal confirmed that the paper contained fabrication and retracted it.
However, compared to a stolen laptop, there are even more outrageous cases of lost computers.
In 2022, Nagoya University in Japan released a report on academic misconduct, mentioning a doctoral student who published three papers, including one in Nature, one in ACS Applied Nano Materials, and one in JACS, all of which were suspected of fabrication.
But more shocking than the academic misconduct was his behavior after the fabrication was discovered: this doctoral student lost the lab’s Mac laptop to cover up his fraudulent behavior, one can only say that his method of “leaving no evidence” was quite skillful.
Image source: Report screenshot
Subsequent investigations revealed that this doctoral student had started fabricating data early on, and the amount of fabricated data was enormous, no wonder he could publish so many good articles.
Whether it is a stolen computer or an abandoned one, these are considered human disasters. In fact, some authors, when responding to criticism, will even use natural disasters as excuses ~
Floods, earthquakes: Yes, yes, I can blame that too!
It is said that “Heaven has unpredictable storms, and people have unexpected fortunes and misfortunes,” and this saying is no exception in the research community. For example, if a flood or earthquake occurs, the data from the paper will disappear, so it becomes impossible to correct the misuse of images.
Everyone, don’t laugh, this is not something made up by the academic elite, but comes from the mouths of several professors.
In 2019, the journal JMCA retracted seven articles by Chinese scholars en masse due to the existence of numerous instances of image reuse.
Image source: Journal official website
Logically, when a paper is questioned for image misuse, the authors should immediately check the original data and make corrections. However, the authors of these retracted papers provided an unexpected reason.
According to media reports, the corresponding authors of the retracted papers were Professor Dongge Tong from Chengdu University of Technology and Professor Wei Chu from Sichuan University. Professor Dongge Tong stated in response to the journal’s investigation: Some images in the article were completed by a third-party company, but due to a flood accident in that company’s lab, the original data of the published EM images was destroyed. Moreover, because the third-party company only saved the test data for a month, the original data was already lost, making it impossible to correct the article.
Of course, everyone knows this is just an excuse. The subsequent funding committee investigated the matter and found that the images/spectra (including electron microscope images, XRD spectra) in the papers published by Dongge Tong and others exhibited issues such as cropping, copying and pasting, rotating, scaling, image stitching, and smudging, and Dongge Tong was given a notice of criticism.
Image source: National Natural Science Foundation of China
In China, floods destroy data, and Japan is not without earthquakes (merit -1). This year, a scientist faced criticism and stated that an earthquake destroyed his original data.
In 2019, Professor Atsunori Kamiya from Okayama University published a paper titled “Genetic manipulation of autonomic nerve fiber innervation and activity and its effect on breast cancer progression” in Nature Neuroscience.
Image source: Nature
However, subsequent investigations revealed that there were no less than 113 instances of fabrication in this paper, and some images also had issues. But when investigators asked where the original data was, Kamiya stated that the earthquake in northern Osaka in June 2018 caused the hard drive storing the data to be damaged. Moreover, due to the earthquake, chemical liquids from the refrigerator and shelves fell onto the experimental notebook, so the paper version of the data was also lost…
Such occurrences truly make one sigh, in this vast world, there are all kinds of wonders ~
Some people go to great lengths to fabricate data, while others risk their lives to protect data.
For researchers, the importance of original data is self-evident; once a paper is questioned, this original data can help us respond to those doubts.
Compared to the aforementioned data fabrication, some researchers’ behaviors in finding various excuses to deceive investigations are truly brave! To protect their original data, they may even risk their lives to fight against criminals.
In 2017, there was news about a graduate student in South Africa.
In a robbery incident in Johannesburg, a medical graduate student named Noxolo Ntusi was robbed, and the criminals took her bag containing lunch, but when they tried to take another bag, Noxolo Ntusi fought back with all her might, refusing to let go even when a gun was pointed at her head!
It turned out that this bag contained Noxolo Ntusi’s USB drive, which held her data and thesis. To protect her original data and thesis, Noxolo Ntusi fought with all her strength!
Image source: Weibo
Of course, the reason I bring up this example is not to encourage everyone to fight with criminals, but to emphasize that researchers should protect their original data and make backups.
The road of scientific research is long, and to continue on this path, one must adhere to ethical standards and do what needs to be done ~
Editor: Cang Shu
Image source: Internet
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