Scientists at a Harvard-affiliated cancer hospital plan to retract six studies and correct another 31 as part of an ongoing investigation into image duplications and discrepancies in dozens of papers by some of the leading researchers.
A post on For Better Science, a blog focused on scientific integrity, flagged potential problems in articles co-authored by top scientists and executives at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The institute is widely regarded as a national leader in cancer treatment and research, and much of its scientific work is supported by taxpayer dollars; It received more than $160 million from the National Institutes of Health in 2023, according to a federal database.
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In addition to the ongoing retractions and corrections, one article with a possible error is still under investigation. Sixteen others relied on data collected at science labs outside Dana-Farber, and researchers at those labs have been notified of the concerns, said Barrett Rollins, Dana-Farber’s research integrity officer.
He added that not all of the blog’s accusations are accurate. Three papers appeared to require no action.
“The presence of image differences in an article is not evidence of an author’s intent to deceive. That conclusion can only be reached after a careful, fact-based investigation that is an integral part of our response,” Rollins said in a statement. “In our experience, mistakes are often unintentional and do not rise to the level of misconduct.”
Rollins co-authored three of the articles flagged by the blogger and has been removed from those reviews, said Ellen Berlin, a spokeswoman for Dana-Farber.
It is unclear whether the issues that prompted the retractions and corrections are simple errors or the serious scientific sin of research misconduct. But the research highlights an essential part of the scientific process – correcting errors – at a time of increased scrutiny of academic institutions and publications.
“Going in and doing a lot of retractions and corrections is something that is quite aggressive,” said Nicholas Steneck, a research ethics expert and professor emeritus at the University of Michigan. “From my perspective as someone who promotes integrity in research, that is exactly true – and I wish more organizations would do this.”
Sholto David, an independent molecular biologist, wrote about the blog’s articles after taking up cancer research in between jobs. He looked for signs of image problems using his eyes and an AI-based tool called Imagetwin. David conducted his searches by following topics, finding one researcher with publications he considered suspect, and then investigating others by frequent contributors.
Noticing potentially problematic research from Dana-Farber scientists, he began investigating work published by its top leaders, including president Laurie Glimcher and chief operating officer William Hahn. Glimcher co-authored four of the articles in which David raised concerns, and Hahn co-authored 17 articles. Glimcher and Hahn did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Not all the problems David discovered were new. Some were flagged more than a decade ago on PubPeer, a website where researchers comment on and critique articles after publication. The issues range from relatively minor issues to more serious allegations of possible image manipulation. The integrity of scientific images is critical because they often determine how data is presented in articles.
The Harvard Crimson and STAT News first reported the investigation into articles by Dana-Farber researchers. David said he reported problems with four additional papers to Dana-Farber administrators Monday morning.
Rollins said investigators had already investigated potential data errors “in some of the cases reported in the blog.”
Checking for errors and correcting them are the first and in many ways simplest parts of the process. Science is done by teams, and the papers in question date back to 1998, meaning careful investigation will be needed to identify the source of any errors.
‘Was it one person who did it? Was it the atmosphere of the laboratory? That’s where it takes a lot of time to get in and find out who was actually responsible,” Steneck said.
Generally, the person listed first in a scientific paper, the lead author, did most of the work. The last person named, known as the senior author, is generally the scientist whose laboratory and funding supported the work. The middle authors may have varying degrees of involvement and contributions, which can range from crucial to weaker.
But scientific and medical publishing ethics generally say that each author must be responsible for the work.
Hidde Ploegh, an immunologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and lead author of a 2005 paper flagged on PubPeer as an image discrepancy, said in an email that he was not aware of any problem with the paper.
“It is more than a little unfortunate that it is easy to make these types of accusations anonymously without first contacting the authors,” Ploegh said in an email. “It creates an unmerited suggestion of malfeasance.”
Boaz Tirosh, a biochemist at Case Western Reserve University and lead author of the paper, also said he was not aware of the PubPeer questions, but defended the numbers being questioned and added that the key finding of the article “has been corroborated by multiple studies in the community.” Glimcher is a co-author of that article.
While understanding the source of errors in each case will likely require a lengthy investigation, Steneck says, he argues that the strident action Dana-Farber is taking to correct the scientific record is commendable.
“Elite knowledge in academic institutions [is] are currently under attack, and the last thing you want is to leave yourself in a vulnerable position if that occurs,” Steneck said. “So if this is an aggressive response from Dana-Farber, I think this is exactly what they should do.”
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