Retractions: The lessons for research institutions

摘要

Last week Nature retracted two papers that attracted much excitement but also incredulity almost immediately after publication in January this year. Researchers based at the RIKEN research centre, Kobe, Japan, in collaboration with colleagues from the USA claimed to have shown a much easier way to transform adult cells into pluripotent stem cells, a technique that became known as stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency. A subsequent investigation by RIKEN concluded inadequacies in data management, oversight, and record-keeping, and found one researcher guilty of misconduct. What are the lessons of such cases?