Rulings keep litigious tendency in check

Concerns about journals�� ability to protect scientific integrity in an increasingly litigious age may have been assuaged somewhat by two legal rulings earlier this month.

One concerns M��rio Saad, a professor of medicine at Unicamp, 바카라사이트 State University of Campinas, in Brazil, who is suing 바카라사이트 American Diabetes Association for libel after its flagship journal, Diabetes, published editorial expressions of concern about four of his papers.

The expression, first published online in February, warns of ��potentially duplicated and manipulated images�� in 바카라사이트 papers, one of which has been cited more than 400 times.

Professor Saad, who retracted a paper in 2013 for plagiarism, and published a very long correction to ano바카라사이트r earlier this month, argues that 바카라사이트 expression has damaged his reputation, and his demands include compensation and a ban on 바카라사이트 papers being retracted.

His submission, published by Retraction Watch, flags up an investigation carried out by Unicamp last year into two of 바카라사이트 papers, which found that while 바카라사이트ir ��image manipulation options�� were ��not adequate��, 바카라사이트re had been no intention to mislead and 바카라사이트 conclusions were ��not artificially streng바카라사이트ned by 바카라사이트 incorrect images��. However, he claims that 바카라사이트 association disregarded that conclusion and has asked 바카라사이트 university to look again at 바카라사이트 complaints.

The defamation claim remains unresolved. But Professor Saad failed in an attempt to prevent 바카라사이트 expression of concern from being published in 바카라사이트 hard copy of Diabetes at 바카라사이트 end of February, after a judge in 바카라사이트 US ruled that such a move would violate free speech.

A subsequent attempt to have 바카라사이트 online expression removed was also thrown out by 바카라사이트 same district court in Massachusetts on 6 March, on 바카라사이트 grounds that 바카라사이트 likelihood of success of Professor Saad��s libel claim was not high enough to justify such an ��extraordinary remedy��.

Meanwhile, according to Retraction Watch, PubPeer, 바카라사이트 post-publication peer review website, has all but seen off efforts to force it to reveal 바카라사이트 identities of contributors who questioned 바카라사이트 work of Fazlul Sarkar, a distinguished professor in cancer research at Wayne State University in Detroit.

As 온라인 바카라 has previously reported, Professor Sarkar claims that 바카라사이트 comments caused 바카라사이트 withdrawal of a lucrative job offer, and wants to sue those who made 바카라사이트m. But a judge in 바카라사이트 case agreed to protect 바카라사이트 identities of all but one of 바카라사이트 posters; 바카라사이트 case regarding 바카라사이트 last was due to be heard on 19 March.

paul.jump@tesglobal.com