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International - Misconduct Cases
German Misconduct Case Adding Respondents
Volume 8, No. 4, September 2000
A research misconduct case that began in 1997 with
allegations against a well-known and decorated member of the German
research establishment and a colleague has expanded to include the
department chief and four other co-authors, according to published
reports.
A recently-completed 2-year investigation of 347 scientific
articles authored by Friedhelm Herrmann, former hematologist and
cancer researcher, found that 52 articles "contained falsifications";
42 contained suspected data; and 121 were placed in a "grey
category" because the investigators could not get access to
original data. The remaining 132 papers are deemed valid. Of the
94 suspected papers, 53 were published with his accused colleague,
Marion Brach.
The investigation, jointly sponsored by Germany's
main granting agency and its largest cancer charity, was expanded
to cover three of Herrmann's most frequent co-authors besides Brach,
all of whom were in the same department. The investigation examined
over 600 articles published by the quintet.
The department chief said he was only an honorary
author on the 59 suspected articles that contain his name. An examination
of a paper published by the department chief without Herrmann, however,
indicated many "irregularities and indications that data had
been improperly handled." Two researchers who were co-authors
on that paper were added to the investigation.
Evidence of improper data manipulation has also been
found in three habilitations, the uniquely German post-Ph.D. qualification
for aspiring professors, submitted by three of Herrmann's frequent
co-authors, including Brach.
Four universities and a research center have conducted
investigations into the case. In June, the university where Herrmann
and four of his co-authors worked reactivated its fraud panel to
investigate the department that employed the respondents. Both funding
sources are considering legal action to recover research funds.
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