Search

Reports on the confirmation that several papers involving plant development were compromised by scientific fraud. Published results in the March issue of `Plant Journal'; The investigation of the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, Germany; The falsification of experiments and the publishing of those results in ten different publications; People involved, including research group leader Richard Walden; Results of the investigation; Other information. INSET: Cologne Institute's Disputed Papers.

Reports on the scientific fraud in postwar Germany uncovered by an investigation on the scientific articles co-authored by Friedhelm Herrmann, former hematologist and cancer researcher. Conclusions reached by the investigation; Examples of falsifications made by Herrmann on his data; Universities which set up the probe; Consequences for those implicated in the data manipulation.

The article discusses a white paper released in June 2022 which reveals that German universities should undertake more military research, the German national academy of engineering, Acatech and calls for German science to focus equally on security, resilience, and sustainability.

Reports on the investigation done by the University of Göttingen, Gottingen, Germany on the paper that claimed a spectacular remission of tumors. Reasons why the paper was considered to be popular; Doubts that began to surface after the publication of the paper; Findings of the investigations done.

The article informs that the Nature family of journals said it has struck a deal that will allow scientists at research institutions across Germany to publish papers in Nature and its 54 sister journals that are immediately free to read. It mentions the deal, known as a transformative agreement, comes as research funders in Europe are pushing to demolish journal paywalls and redirect money spent on subscriptions to supporting open access.

This article reports that urologist Rolf-Hermann Ringert in Germany has been barred from applying for grants from the German research agency DFG after the agency said he shared responsibility for misrepresentations in a 2000 paper that he co-authored with a former departmental former colleague. A previous investigation by a university committee had found only the first author of the paper, Alexander Kugler, guilty of misconduct based on sloppy work and other irregularities in a paper that reported glowing results from a trial of a kidney cancer vaccine. The DFG panel, however, decided that Ringert was responsible as lead author of the study and head of the department in which the research took place. The study, published in Nature Medicine, was retracted in September 2003. The decision to impose an 8-year ban is not open to appeal, but Ringert says he is exploring his legal options. Stefanie Dimmeler can finally receive a 2 million dollars prize from DFG after being cleared of a misconduct allegation. Dimmeler, a cardiologist at Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, did not accept the Leibniz Prize in March pending a university committee investigation into why she had published the same figure, with different captions, in two papers.

The article presents briefs of several papers presented at the meeting of the German Physical Society in March 2009. Sergei Loschek and associates reported that carbon nanotubes could be placed on microchips to perform electrical and mechanical functions. Iwan Schaap and colleagues said that the outer layers of the influenza virus consist of protein covered by lipids. Christian Hirtreiter and associates reported simulations that showed the merits of assigning students in Germany to universities according to a centralized system no longer used.

Information about several papers discussed at the Biodiversity Conference held in Bonn, Germany on May 2008 is presented. The event was attended by delegates from 191 countries where they share and discuss the benefits of rich genetic resources of the world. The said resources discussed reside in forests, which cover four billion hectares or 30% of Earth's land.

Investigating committees have failed to find evidence of scientific misconduct in two high-profile cases in Germany. On 3 July, the DFG, Germany's science funding agency, announced that its scientific misconduct commission had uncovered only technical flaws in a paper by neuroscientist Heinz Breer of the University of Hohenheim, near Stuttgart. Charges against Breer, a well-known neuroscientist who studies how nerve cells detect scents, first came to light in April when the 'Sueddeutsche Zeitung' newspaper outlined allegations by a former lab member that figures and data in two publications had been manipulated. The DFG, which partially funded Schön's work at Bell Labs, had been waiting for the results of the Konstanz investigation before proceeding with its own inquiry. The agency will decide whether Schön must pay back the funding he received or face other penalties.

Offers a clarification of competitiveness within international trade, particularly its impact upon the mix of goods produced in the United States. Dispels some of the myths about competitiveness that emanate from the false correlation between specific businesses and their country-of-origin. Discusses high productivity as both a cause and an effect of international competition. (13 references) (JJK)