Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Retracts 2006 Science Paper after Data Integrity Investigation Unearths Duplicated Images

A recent investigation at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has led to the retraction of a 2006 Science paper co-authored by Laurie Glimcher, the institute’s president and CEO. The retraction notice was published in Science and stated that discrepancies in key scientific images have been detected, causing the authors to lose confidence in the study’s key figures.

The ongoing investigation at Dana-Farber has uncovered more than 50 articles co-authored by four of the institute’s top researchers that have come under scrutiny. These concerns were initially brought to light in a January blog post by scientific investigator Sholto David. Some of the issues were identified on PubPeer, a website dedicated to addressing data problems in research, while others had been posted several years prior. Many of the concerns revolved around duplicated images of experimental results, potentially impacting the scientific conclusions drawn from the data.

The decision to retract was made despite opposition from the study’s lead author. This paper is just one of many articles that have been retracted due to data integrity issues at Dana-Farber. The ongoing investigation is likely to uncover more retractions in the future.