Expressions of regret: group retracts sedation paper for stolen words, data

A group of researchers in China have retracted a 2011 article in Acta Pharmacologica Sinica, the official journal of the Chinese Pharmacological Society, acknowledging that they lifted text and results from a previously published paper from other researchers.

The paper was titled “Lipid metabolism disturbances and AMPK activation in prolonged propofol-sedated rabbits under mechanical ventilation.”

According to the notice:

The authors are retracting their article entitled “Lipid metabolism disturbances and AMPK activation in prolonged propofol-sedated rabbits under mechanical ventilation” [Acta Pharmacol Sin 2012; 33: 27–33]. Several expressions of this article were identical to those of previously published paper by Dr Petros YPSILANTIS et al [Anesth Analg 2007; 105: 155–66] and some original data were inappropriately manipulated. The authors would like to express their most sincere apology to Dr Petros YPSILANTIS and the Anesthesia & Analgesia and to the editors and readers of Acta Pharmacologica Sinica.

The title of the Ypsilantis paper was “Organ Toxicity and Mortality in Propofol-Sedated Rabbits Under Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation.”

Unfortunately for the offending authors, they chose the worst journal from which to plagiarize. Why? Its editor is Steven Shafer, who has been instrumental in chasing down some of the most notorious fraudsters in his field — Joachim Boldt, Scott Reuben, Yoshitaka Fujii — even when it requires endless follow-up.