A journal published a letter from a student only to discover that it was not written by him. The editor has written to him and his dean apologising, and the journal is publishing a piece saying that the letter was not written by the student. It seems most likely that the piece was written by one of his fellow students. Should we encourage the dean to hold a full investigation?
Letters to the editor are difficult to authenticate. The journal should publish a retraction and highlight this with an editorial. The dean should be notified and advised to write to every student pointing out this breach of ethics.
The journal published a letter of retraction and an editorial discussing the offence. The journal also made an official complaint to the dean. The culprit was not investigated.