The co-author of a paper has contacted us about a paper he published 5 years ago together with a researcher who has now been convicted of serious professional misconduct by the GMC for research misconduct.
The co-author is worried that the paper he co-authored may also be fraudulent.
The research was in two parts. The first was analysed by a doctor not convicted of research misconduct but the convicted doctor was responsible for the interviews and original data collection. The co-author has no doubt that this part of the project was carried out properly. The second part involved a follow-up telephone questionnaire, which was undertaken by the convicted doctor without prior knowledge of the co-author. The co-author has seen no questionnaire answer sheets to provide him with any evidence that the telephone interviews took place. The original data cannot now be found, but this may not indicate much as there have been many reorganisations of the institution concerned. The convicted doctor did provide a list of individuals he said he had called, and the co-author who has written to us undertook a follow-up feasibility survey to see how many patients recalled the telephone interview. Nobody did. Should we retract the article?
COPE advised the editor to retract the article.
The editor retracted the article with a statement, which attracted a write-up in the NewYork Times.