Schneider Shorts of 21 February 2025 – Germany special with my plea to German voters, a russia-lover in Hamburg, an animal friend in Magdeburg, a decisive art historian in Cottbus, and an Iran-loving German in Poland, plus other stories of a Californian urologist, a papermill gang, and mass retractions in Elsevier to save one greedy Spanish man.

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German Elections

Dear German readers, on Sunday the 23 February 2025 we have national elections for the Bundestag. This is likely the second most important election globally after the recent disaster in USA. I am not exaggerating: this German vote will decide the future of all of Europe and possibly of much of the world.

Too much is at stake. A murderous fascist regime, russia, is leading a genocidal total war against my native country Ukraine. Next Monday 24 February it will be three years of full scale invasion, of russian mass murder, torture, rape and child abduction. At the same time, the new fascist rulers of USA are embracing putin’s regime and, most bizarrely, they insult and demand reparations from its victim. The Mump regime will not protect Europe, quite the opposite, they are about to negotiate with russia not just the partition of Ukraine, but of all of Europe.

On the other side of the world, the totalitarian regime in China is watching the developments closely while preparing to invade Taiwan. The North Korean army is fighting war on russian side in Ukraine in return for russian military technology and to train itself in modern warfare in order to attack South Korea and Japan next. Iran not only supplies russia with drones to bomb Ukrainian civilians, it is receiving missile and yes, also nuclear arms technology in return, preparing to annihilate Israel.

This is why the German elections are so important. European unity will be impossible if Germany elects a weak government. European Union will fall apart and become a war zone and/or a russian colony if Germans let Nazis win and control the national government.

And then of course there is also the human-made climate change disaster, which is gathering speed no matter what executive orders some fascist dictator signs to ban all mention of it.

Dear Germans, you must go to vote, and you must vote against fascism.

Please vote for those who support Ukraine and European unity. Vote for those who care about the climate change and want to transform our economy away from fossil fuels, which, to be honest, are the only reason why russia can wage this horrible war in Ukraine, and for most other problems of mankind.

Dear fellow Germans, I am a member of the Green Party and I ask you to

Vote Green!

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Science Elites

I reviewed the facts and could not find any scientific misconduct

Another German university gracefully resolved a case of bad science, in the usual way.

In September 2024, I contacted Lars Röntzsch, professor of thermal energy technology at the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) in Cottbus. It was about his group leader Sampangi Shiva Kumar, specifically, about this paper Kumar published before arriving in Germany:

S. Shiva Kumar, S.U.B. Ramakrishna , B. Rama Devi , V. Himabindu Phosphorus-doped graphene supported palladium (Pd/PG) electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction in PEM water electrolysis International Journal of Green Energy (2018) doi: 10.1080/15435075.2018.1508468 

These were the other two papers reusing same spectrum:

• S. Shiva Kumar , S. U. B. Ramakrishna , B. Rama Devi , V. Himabindu Phosphorus-doped carbon nanoparticles supported palladium electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in PEM water electrolysis Ionics (2018) doi: 10.1007/s11581-018-2471-0
• S. Shiva Kumar, V. Himabindu Boron-Doped Carbon nanoparticles supported palladium as an efficient hydrogen evolution electrode in PEM water electrolysis Renewable Energy (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.08.068 

Röntzsch replied to me right away:

“thanks for your message and the hint. We will check the matter.”

Soon after, Kumar explained on PubPeer:

“The noise patterns in question are likely due to the amorphous nature of graphene oxide, which can introduce irregularities in the diffraction profile. It has to be clearly noted that these noise patterns are not expected to have any significant impact on the properties of the catalyst materials that were investigated in these studies. […] As such, the noise patterns were not considered in our study since they do not affect the overall conclusions about the nature of the catalyst materials.

Regarding your comment on the three papers that report on different materials but exhibit similar XRD patterns, […] the benchmark XRD patterns of Pd/C that are in question are similar across all three papers. However, the electrochemical performance varies in each case…“

The Brandenburg University of Technology agreed, the Ombudsperson and art history (!) professor Sylvia Claus sent me this letter on 14 February 2025:

Translated (highlights mine):

“Dear Mr Schneider,

on September 9, 2024, Prof. Röntzsch forwarded an email to me in my capacity as a confidant for ensuring good scientific practice at the BTU, in which you made allegations of scientific misconduct against one of Prof. Röntzsch’s employees, Dr. Shiva Kumar.

The issue concerned three publications that Dr. Shiva Kumar had published in relevant, peer-reviewed scientific journals between 2018 and 2020. On September 10, 2024, Dr. Shiva Kumar himself also informed me of the allegation.
I have reviewed the facts and could not find any scientific misconduct. This assessment is supported by an independent expert opinion that I obtained in accordance with §15 (5) of the statutes for ensuring good scientific practice at the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg on March 2, 2018. The expert comes to the conclusion that “the presented facts paint a picture of XRD data acquisition, processing and evaluation that is partially physically deficient,” but that “no deliberate or targeted scientific manipulation is recognizable.”

I will therefore not pursue the matter any further.”

Claus never replied to me again. I find it cute when an art historian evaluates XRD spectra, and of course the identity of the “independent expert” is secret. In any case, Kumar remains group leader at Röntzsch’s lab, in fact in September 2024 they published a book chapter together, in the “Encyclopedia of Electrochemical Power Sources“. A great future awaits Kumar in Cottbus.

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Magnificent Frigatebird Optimization

We remain in Germany. Meet the German mathematician Frank Werner, since 2021 retired professor of the University of Magdeburg. This East German university is a very special place of knowledge: Heike and Thorsen Walles enjoy unconditional support and protection from retractions there, and fake medals by Ashutosh Tiwari‘s fake IAAM are cherished and put on the pride display:

But we are here to talk about Professor Werner’s scholarly achievements in computational technology. Did you know he loves animals? Look, a wolverine:

Tareq Hamadneh , Belal Batiha , Omar Alsayyed , Frank Werner, Zeinab Monrazeri , Mohammad Dehghani, Kei Eguchi Using the Novel Wolverine Optimization Algorithm for Solving Engineering Applications Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences (2024) doi: 10.32604/cmes.2024.055171 

Here a study about a Magnificent Frigatebird, again with the same colleagues from Jordan and Iran, plus from Kazakhstan:

Tareq Hamadneh , Khalid Kaabneh , Ibraheem AbuFalahah , Gulnara Bektemyssova, Galymzhan Shaikemelev , Dauren Umutkulov , Sayan Omarov , Zeinab Monrazeri , Frank Werner , Mohammad Dehghani Magnificent Frigatebird Optimization: A New Bio-Inspired Metaheuristic Approach for Solving Optimization Problems Computers, Materials & Continua (2024) doi: 10.32604/cmc.2024.054317 

Now, a recent study about a Frilled Lizard with same scholars from Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan and now also from russia (never mind that German researchers are banned from collaboration with that terror state):

Ibraheem Abu Falahah , Osama Al-Baik , Saleh Alomari , Gulnara Bektemyssova , Saikat Gochhait , Irina Leonova , Om Parkash Malik , Frank Werner, Mohammad Dehghani Frilled Lizard Optimization: A Novel Bio-Inspired Optimizer for Solving Engineering Applications Computers, Materials & Continua (2024) doi: 10.32604/cmc.2024.053189 

Alexander Magazinov noted for all these three papers:

“This paper belongs to a set of highly similar papers with Mohammad Dehghani as their common author. All threads on PubPeer for this issue will be linked to the following one: “

Zoubida Benmamoun, Khaoula Khlie , Gulnara Bektemyssova , Mohammad Dehghani , Youness Gherabi Bobcat Optimization Algorithm: an effective bio-inspired metaheuristic algorithm for solving supply chain optimization problems Scientific Reports (2024) doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-70497-1 

This time, we have a bobcat. Magazinov listed on PubPeer also:

• 6 similar papers in Scientific Reports
• 8 similar papers in MDPI’s Biomimetics
• 4 similar papers in Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences
• 7 similar papers in IEEE Access
• 1 paper in Knowledge-Based Systems

In total 30 PubPeer threads for this Mohammad Dehghani of Shiraz University of Technology in Iran, with exotic creatures like coati, red panda, clouded leopard, Tasmanian devil, fennec fox, serval, kookaburra, giant armadillo, pufferfish and lyrebird! Silly animal algorithms are very popular with papermillers, because journal editors just seem to love them. Who doesn’t love animals?

Dehghani’s occasional co-author in this zoophilic travesty is the citation extortionist Gaurav Dhiman, about whom you can read here:

And this was retracted by Taylor & Francis, with the rest of the Special Issue. Dehghani’s coauthor is the Czech professor Pavel Trojovský of University of Hradec Kralove (he and his wife Eva Trojovská coauthored other bestiary papers with Dheghani):

Mohammad Dehghani , Pavel Trojovský , Štěpán Hubálovský , Theyab R. Alsenani , Jaswinder Singh Three-Periods Optimization Algorithm: A New Method for Solving Various Optimization Problems IETE Journal of Research (2022) doi: 10.1080/03772063.2022.2052982   

“Following publication, concerns were raised about the peer review and decision-making processes for this special issue.

After an investigation by the Taylor & Francis Publishing Ethics & Integrity team, in full cooperation with the Editor-in-Chief and the Institution, it was confirmed that the articles included in this special issue were not reviewed appropriately, in line with the Journal’s peer review standards and policy.

As the stringency of the peer review process is core to the integrity of the publication process, the Editor and Publisher have decided to retract all of the articles within the above-named Special Issue.”

Retraction 11 October 2023.

Indeed, what better collaborator than Dehghani for a Magdeburg professor. On his institutional website, Prof Werner also informs us of his editorial activities:

“April 2023: Call for Papers for a special issue ‘Optimization with Engineering Applications: Heuristics, Meta-Heuristics and Hyper-Heuristics’ in Mathematics (Editors: Mohammad Shokouhifar, Frank Werner, Laith Abualigah, Seyedali Mirjalili) (CFP and 3 work already published ); (Journal Impact Factor 2022:2.4 ;Q1 in ‘Mathematics’; Elsevier CiteScore Factor 2022: 3.5 ); Deadline for submissions: February 29, 2024.”

Needless to say, at least one of these Iranian gentlemen, Laith Abualigah, is seemingly a papermiller fraudster, as his PubPeer record suggests. But then again, he published about “marine predators algorithm” and “chimp optimizer“, so yes, he is a perfect match for a Magdeburg professor.

I wrote to Werner, and he swiftly replied, berating me for my bad journalism and my slandering of his collaborators. He declared to have studied Abualigah’s PubPeer record and have found nothing but minor typos and possibly slightly exaggerated self-citation rate. As for his own papers with Dehghani: also there Werner saw only typos and defamation of scientists, which in his words is the purpose of PubPeer.

Werner ended his email with a list of things I should be investigating instead. He also reported his excitement of meeting his Jordanian coauthor Tareq Hamadneh in person soon, in Germany.

What I found interesting was this: when asked to explain to me the point of those bestiary algorithms, Werner had to pass and just mumbled that those “‘bio-inspired” meta-heuristics were not the main part of his work. But soon after, he went to defend his wolverine and frilled lizard studies on PubPeer with:

“The authors emphasize that all computational experiments have been carefully done and checked. […] We strongly reject the unjustified and incorrect conjecture that the ’content seems to be flawed’. […] In case of questions or remarks, it is standard practice to contact the corresponding author!“

I like the riposte by Maarten van Kampen:

“The field of meta-heuristic optimizations is filled with ‘novel’ algorithms that seem to serve little function but producing papers. Below a selection of papers that are critical of this ‘Cambrian explosion’:

• Grey Wolf, Firefly and Bat Algorithms: Three Widespread Algorithms that Do Not Contain Any Novelty
• Exposing the grey wolf, moth-flame, whale, firefly, bat, and antlion algorithms: six misleading optimization techniques inspired by bestial metaphors
• Nature inspired optimization algorithms or simply variations of metaheuristics?
• Metaheuristics—the metaphor exposed
• Evolutionary Computation Bestiary
• Policies on Heuristic Search (a journal explicitly taking a stance against the metaheuristics glut)

Also this bestiary is also worth a visit.

These critical papers are, however, hugely outnumbered by the glut of hilariously-named algorithms produced by researchers that seem to spend a lot of time studying the hunting, mating, and foraging patterns of even the most obscure creatures.”

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He openly takes a pro-Russian position

Another German, a doctor from Hamburg, just returned from Kremlin where he received an award. Never mind the genocide russia commits in Ukraine, why should a German doctor be bothered indeed. But then again, what if the russian secret service now leads this German doctor as their agent, with or without his knowledge?

The doctor in question is Prof. h.c. Dr. med. Markus Tiemann, together with his wife Prof. Dr. med. Katharina Tiemann he runs a blood diagnostics lab, called Institut für Hämatopathologie Hamburg. Unlike his russian friends insist (because the word “institut” is often used in russian for “university”), this Hamburg “institut” is nothing but Thiemann’s private business, a pompously named blood test facility.

Neither of the Tiemanns seems to be actually employed as a professor at any university anywhere, but you must understand: German doctors, lawyers and architects love to be called professors, and it also impresses their customers into paying more money.

Which brings us to Markus Thiemann’s recent visit to russia, and the source of his “Prof. h.c.” degree.

Here is the announcement of the Russian University of People’s Friendship (RUDN) from 12 February 2025 (translated, archived copy here):

“The honorary title of RUDN Professor is awarded for outstanding scientific and pedagogical achievements. On the main stage of the Kremlin, four professors received the award.

1. Markus Tiemann, professor of the Hamburg Institute of Hematopathology (Germany).

For an active contribution to the strengthening and development of scientific cooperation with scientists of the Patrice Lumuba Russian University of Friendship of Peoples on urgent problems of preventive and personalized medicine.

In 2022, RUDN entered into an agreement on scientific cooperation with the Hamburg Institute of Hematopathology.

The professor offers scientific internships on the basis of the Institute of Hematopathology of Hamburg for RUDN employees using a modern equipment park for molecular diagnostics and scientific research, as well as close cooperation in the field of translational medicine and personalized oncology.

The Professor of the Hamburg Institute of Hamburg helped on a free basis to preserve the transfer of reagents to RUDN for innovative immunophenotyping technologies, including electron microscopy and ultrastructural analysis. Since 2021, the reagents have been transferred to NORC RUDN for monoplex and multiplex immunohymic analysis, as well as immune-electron microscopy for a total of about 20 million rubles.

In addition, the Institute of Hematopathology approved financing of publications in Open Access format in the amount of over 7 million rubles. Since 2020, together with the university, more than 20 scientific works have been published in the leading world journals Q1 and Q2 for molecular histology and cellular biology.”

Indeed, Tiemann coauthored and sponsored several MDPI papers with his russian friends, and proudly lists them on the website of his “institute”. Here is Tiemann (on the right), receiving his award at Kremlin:

In the same announcement, Tiemann is also recognised for his open support of russia:

“Marcus Timan is also actively promoting RUDN in his country:

• He openly takes a pro -Russian position in public and scientific circles of Germany, emphasizing the successes and achievements of RUDN scientists in the field of functional morphology, molecular histology and pathology;
• The professor openly positions the results of interaction with the NORC, during seminars and forums he presents presented RUDN as the largest leading scientific university in Russia…”

Tiemann didn’t reply to my email, but the German police did, and announced to investigate.

By the way, russia’s German fan Tiemann can thank the other awardee of this honorary professorship for drawing attention to him. Yes, it is the infamous Rafael Luque, the papermilling fraudster who was sacked in Spain for taking Saudi bribes, and who is affiliated with RUDN since 2017. Here is Rafi with his award:

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Essentially a citation delivery vehicle

Which elegantly brings us to a recent paper by Rafael Luque while we remain on the German topic. Since 2022, this papermilling rascist from Spain used to hide his RUDN employment when declaring his academic affiliations on the papermill products he publishes, and uses the one with the Universidad ECOTEC in Ecuador.

But now, Luque returned to proudly flaunting his RUDN affiliation, see for example this trash study with a bunch of Iranians and two Polish professors, one of whom you might recognise:

Samaneh Shahsavarifar , Morteza Rezapour , Mehdi Mehrpooya , Hermann Ehrlich , Teofil Jesionowski , Mohammad Reza Ganjali, Rafael Luque , Mehdi Rahimi-Nasrabadi Review—Advances in Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Batteries Utilizing Polyoxometalate-Functionalized Nanocarbon Materials Journal of The Electrochemical Society (2024) doi: 10.1149/1945-7111/ad6b46 

According to Alexander Magazinov, this paper is “essentially a self-citation delivery vehicle to a certain M Rahimi-Nasrabadi.” And did you recognise Teofil Jesionowski, rector of the Poznan University of Technology and former host of Muhammad Bilal, with whom Jesinowski authored around 30 papermill products, all of which the rector vehemently defends as good science?

The other Polish scholar is Hermann Ehrlich, professor for materials engineering at the Adam Mickiewicz University, also in Poznan. Noteworthy, Ehrlich is actually German, and before moving to Poland, he used to be professor at the Freiberg University of Mining and Technology (TU Bergakademie Freiberg) in his native East-German state of Saxony. Now, guess which Iranian guest Ehrlich hosted in 2019 as visiting professor in Freiberg, sponsored by the prestigious Humboldt Fellowship? Well yes, Mehdi Rahimi-Nasrabadi! Who works at the Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, which in turn is run by the terror organisation of Islamic Revolutionary Guards and is under US and Canadian sanctions.

Here another paper by Ehrlich, which according to Magazinov, is again “essentially a citation delivery vehicle to a certain M Rahimi-Nasrabadi“:

Kheibar Dashtian , Mohammad Reza Ganjali , Jonathan Albo, Hermann Ehrlich , Mehdi Rahimi-Nasrabadi CoMoO4 nano-architecture-based supercapacitors: Tunable properties, performance optimization, and prospective applications Journal of Energy Storage (2024) doi: 10.1016/j.est.2024.114063 

Another work of science by Ehrlich and Rahimi-Nasrabadi, and it features another German professor! Namely Yvonne Joseph, institute director at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, who was next to Ehrlich a co-host for Rahimi-Nasrabadi during his 2019 stay at their German university. Joseph’s group continues hosting many Iranians even today.

Faezeh Gandomi , Mohammad Javad Taghizadeh , Elnaz Marzi Khosrowshahi , Maryam Saleh Mohammadnia , Neda Irannejad , Esmail Sohouli , Hermann Ehrlich , Yvonne Joseph , Mehdi Rahimi-Nasrabadi Highly sensitive electrochemical azaperone sensor based on magnetic silica –NH2-CS2 in the ostrich meat and rat plasma and its comparison with HPLC–MS/MS Journal of Nanostructure in Chemistry (2023) doi: 10.1007/s40097-022-00488-z 

A papermill classic of misreported electron microscopes, by Ehrlich, Joseph and Rahimi-Nasrabadi:

Hessam Jafari , Gholam Reza Mahdavinia, Bagher Kazemi , Hermann Ehrlich, Yvonne Joseph, Mehdi Rahimi-Nasrabadi Highly efficient sunitinib release from pH-responsive mHPMC@Chitosan core-shell nanoparticles Carbohydrate polymers (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.117719 

Joseph, Ehrlich and Jesionowski never replied to my emails. Let’s look at another paper by their beloved Iranian:

The next fake paper by Rahimi-Nasrabadi brings us to another Iranian collaborator of Ehrlich and Jesionowski whom you met above, Mohammad Reza Ganjali:

Hoorieh Djahaniani , Mehdi Rahimi-Nasrabadi , Mahdie Saiedpour , Shahram Nazarian , Mohammad Ganjali , Hosein Batooli Facile synthesis of silver nanoparticles usingTribulus longipetalusextract and their antioxidant and antibacterial activities International Journal of Food Properties (2017) doi: 10.1080/10942912.2016.1188826  

Ganjali has a massive PubPeer record, especially with Mohammad Reza Saeb (who as it happens, is professor in Poland, initially at Gdansk Polytechnic, now at Medical University of Gdansk). A representative common paper with hand-drawn spectra:

Morteza Servatan , Mohammad Ghadiri, Mohsen Khodadadi Yazdi, Maryam Jouyandeh , Ghader Mahmodi , Ali Samadi , Payam Zarrintaj , Sajjad Habibzadeh , Mohammad Reza Ganjali , Mohammad Reza Saeb Synthesis of Cost-Effective Hierarchical MFI-Type Mesoporous Zeolite: Introducing Diatomite as Silica Source Silicon (2021) doi: 10.1007/s12633-020-00786-7

Another work by Ganjali, with a certain Bagher Larijani, former high-ranking official in Iran’s Ministry of Health (and brother of Ali Larijani), more recently kicked out of Canada for being an Iranian agent (read April 2024 Shorts):

Parviz Norouzi, Vinod Kumar Gupta , Farnoush Faridbod , Morteza Pirali-Hamedani , Bagher Larijani , Mohammad Reza Ganjali Carcinoembryonic antigen admittance biosensor based on Au and ZnO nanoparticles using FFT admittance voltammetry Analytical Chemistry (2011) doi: 10.1021/ac102270w   

Allow me to return to the only Pole in this story, Jesionowski. Here another recent paper of his, which merely looks as it was done entirely in Poland:

Sebastian Drużyński, Krzysztof Mazurek , Urszula Kiełkowska , Filip Ciesielczyk , Teofil Jesionowski Adsorption of Cu(II) and Zn(II) onto ZrO2–SiO2 composite: Characteristics, mechanism and application in wastewater treatment Desalination and Water Treatment (2024) doi: 10.1016/j.dwt.2024.100657 

The much cited Md Rabiul Awual is of course a papermiller (see PubPeer), who used the same image in SEVEN publications (see Awual et al 2024). Rauf Foroutan was seen buying authorships together with, ta-da – Rafael Luque, bringing us back full circle:

Zahra Asadi , Sina Dobaradaran , Hossein Arfaeinia , Mohsen Omidvar, Sima Farjadfard , Rauf Foroutan, Bahman Ramavandi , Rafael Luque Photodegradation of ibuprofen laden-wastewater using sea-mud catalyst/H2O2 system: evaluation of sonication modes and energy consumption Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2022) doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-23253-9 

That paper discussed “vegetative electron microscopy” and was retracted in March 2024.

You tell me how a bunch of Polish professors came to block-cite Iranian papermill fraudsters.

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There is little to be gained

Now, let’s go to America, where science (and government, and all public institutions) are currently being dismantled by the Mump regime, with thousands of people being sacked or deprived of funding. Don’t get excited though, they are mass-sacking and grant-robbing decent people only, all the crooks and fraudsters will come up on top again.

Let me introduce you to someone who is unlikely to get sacked or suffer a funding setback: the cancer researcher Allen C Gao, Director of Research at the department of urologic surgery at University of California Davis.

In October 2021, Gao suffered an Expression of Concern with his mentee, a certain Soo OK Lee, who then went to University of Rochester:

Soo Ok Lee , Wei Lou , Min Hou , Sergio A Onate , Allen C Gao Interleukin-4 enhances prostate-specific antigen expression by activation of the androgen receptor and Akt pathway Oncogene (2003) doi: 10.1038/sj.onc.1206735 

Each of those linked papers by Gao is fake in itself. In February 2021, the Chilean coauthor Sergio Onate explained on PubPeer that the gels were merely similar but not identical, and anyway:

“it is highly improbable, almost 20 years later, that the films used in these publications are still in storage. It is important to mention that the findings presented in these publications have been substantiated using massive DNA sequencing expression systems in several other labs. Therefore, at this point, there is little to be gained by required the repeat of experiments used in the publications.“

Justin Stebbing, the Editor-in-Chief of Oncogene, agreed, and closed the case with this Expression of Concern from 1 October 2021:

“The Editors-in-Chief are issuing an Expression of Concern for this article [1] due to concerns about the images. The specific concerns are as follows:

• For Fig. 6C, the far-right lane in the “Nuclear AR” panel is remarkably similar to the left-most lane in the “Total AR” panel.
• Despite representing different cell lines, lanes 2–5 in the R1881/PSA panel of Fig. 1B look similar to lanes 1–4 in the PSA panel of Fig. 4A of DeMiguel et al. [2].
• Additionally, lanes 1–4 in GAPDH panel of Fig. 1B appear to overlap with lanes 1–4 in the GAPDH panel of Fig. 4A of DeMiguel et al. [2] and lanes 1–4 in the GAPDH panel of Fig. 2A of Lee et al. [3].
• Figure 6B, which is supposed to show the results of the supershift assay of LNCaP cells after R1881 treatment, exhibits remarkable similarities with Fig. 3B from Lee et al. [3], which is supposed to show the results of the supershift assay of LN-17 cells using anti-AR antibody.

The original images are no longer available, so readers are advised to interpret the findings related to these figures with caution.

Authors Allen C. Gao and Sergio A. Onate do not agree to this Editorial Expression of Concern. “

Let me now show you some examples of what Gao published without Lee, from his 25-thread strong PubPeer record, recently extended by Claire Francis.

• Chengfei Liu , Cameron Armstrong , Yezi Zhu , Wei Lou , Allen C. Gao Niclosamide enhances abiraterone treatment via inhibition of androgen receptor variants in castration resistant prostate cancer Oncotarget (2016) doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.8493 
• Shu Ning , Chengfei Liu , Wei Lou , Joy C Yang , Alan P Lombard , Leandro S D’Abronzo , Neelu Batra , Ai-Ming Yu , Amy R Leslie , Masuda Sharifi , Christopher P Evans , Allen C Gao Bioengineered BERA-Wnt5a siRNA Targeting Wnt5a/FZD2 Signaling Suppresses Advanced Prostate Cancer Tumor Growth and Enhances Enzalutamide Treatment Molecular Cancer Therapeutics (2022) doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.mct-22-0216 

Only the older paper was corrected. Oncotarget‘s Correction from 1 October 2024 addressed the “an accidental duplicate” in Figure 5E, and assured that “these corrections do not change the results or conclusions of this paper.” Read about Oncotarget‘s new EiC and future director of National cancer Institute, Wafik El Deiry:

Another one by Gao in Oncogene, not really an error of oversight:

H G Nguyen , J C Yang , H-J Kung , X-B Shi , D Tilki , P N Lara , R W DeVere White , A C Gao , C P Evans Targeting autophagy overcomes Enzalutamide resistance in castration-resistant prostate cancer cells and improves therapeutic response in a xenograft model Oncogene (2014) doi: 10.1038/onc.2014.25 

Another set of papers, again featuring Gao’s boss, the Chair of Urologic Surgery at UC Davis, Christopher Evans. Plus again Ralph deVere White, who is not only white, but also Assistant Dean for Cancer Programs at UC Davis School of Medicine, and director of the UC Davis Cancer Center.

• Nagalakshmi Nadiminty, Ramakumar Tummala , Wei Lou , Yezi Zhu , Xu-Bao Shi , June X. Zou , Hongwu Chen , Jin Zhang , Xinbin Chen , Jun Luo , Ralph W. DeVere White , Hsing-Jien Kung , Christopher P. Evans , Allen C. Gao MicroRNA let-7c is downregulated in prostate cancer and suppresses prostate cancer growth PloS one (2012) doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032832 
• Nagalakshmi Nadiminty, Ramakumar Tummala , Wei Lou , Yezi Zhu , Jin Zhang , Xinbin Chen , Ralph W. EVere White , Hsing-Jien Kung , Christopher P. Evans , Allen C. Gao MicroRNA let-7c suppresses androgen receptor expression and activity via regulation of Myc expression in prostate cancer cells Journal of Biological Chemistry (2012) doi: 10.1074/jbc.m111.278705 
• Ramakumar Tummala , Nagalakshmi Nadiminty , Wei Lou , Yezi Zhu , Regina Gandour-Edwards , Hong-Wu Chen , Christopher P. Evans , Allen C. Gao Lin28 promotes growth of prostate cancer cells and activates the androgen receptor American Journal Of Pathology (2013) doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2013.03.011 

Again with Evans, which is exactly why those papers won’t be retracted:

Ramakumar Tummala , Nagalakshmi Nadiminty , Wei Lou , Christopher P. Evans , Allen C. Gao Lin28 induces resistance to anti‐androgens via promotion of AR splice variant generation The Prostate (2016) doi: 10.1002/pros.23134 

And with White again:

Chengfei Liu , Yezi Zhu , Wei Lou , Nagalakshmi Nadiminty , Xinbin Chen , Qinghua Zhou , Xu Bao Shi , Ralph W. DeVere White , Allen C. Gao Functional p53 determines docetaxel sensitivity in prostate cancer cells The Prostate (2013) doi: 10.1002/pros.22583 

Gao and Evans also published with a fellow urologist in Canada, Martin Gleave (read October 2024 Shorts):

Joy C. Yang , Pengfei Xu , Shu Ning , Logan J. Wasielewski , Hans Adomat , Sung Hee Hwang , Christophe Morisseau , Martin Gleave , Eva Corey , Allen C. Gao , Primo N. Lara Jr , Christopher P. Evans , Bruce D. Hammock , Chengfei Liu Novel inhibition of AKR1C3 and androgen receptor axis by PTUPB synergizes enzalutamide treatment in advanced prostate cancer Oncogene (2023) doi: 10.1038/s41388-022-02566-6 

And this is another reason why Gao’s papers can’t be retracted – he published with Donald Trump! Well, not the dictator Donald Trump, but a CEO of Inova Schar Cancer in Fairfax, Virginia. Still, these days nobody will dare to retract a paper with this name on it.

Nagalakshmi Nadiminty , Wei Lou , Soo Ok Lee, Xin Lin , Donald L. Trump , Allen C. Gao Stat3 activation of NF-{kappa}B p100 processing involves CBP/p300-mediated acetylation Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2006) doi: 10.1073/pnas.0509808103 

Gao never replied to my email. And neither did the UC Davis Vice Dean for Research, Kim Barrett, who is supposed to be investigating this affair.

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Retraction Watchdogging

Reviews for this manuscript were fictitious

Enjoy these Elsevier retraction notices, in The Science of the total environment (STOTEN), a journal run by papermillers for papermillers.

Juliana Dos Santos Mendonça, Líria Queiroz Luz Hirano , André Luiz Quagliatto Santos , Daniela De Melo E Silva , Carolina De Castro Pereira , Matheus Santos Costa , Phâmella Neres De Lima , Amanda Pereira Da Costa Araújo , Guilherme Malafaia , Isabela Sayuri Ambrósio , Lais De Moura Bife Castilho , Allyson Leandro Rodrigues Dos Santos , Anizio Marcio De Faria , Denis Vieira De Andrade , Lucélia Gonçalves Vieira The exposure in ovo of embryos belonging to Amazonian turtle species Podocnemis expansa (Testudines) to commercial glyphosate and fipronil formulations impairs their growth and changes their skeletal development The Science of the total environment (2022) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156709 

The Retraction from 18 February 2025. highlights mine:

“This article has been retracted at the request of the Editors-in-Chief.

Post-publication, an investigation conducted on behalf of the journal by Elsevier’s Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics team determined that 2 of the reviews for this manuscript were fictitious. 2 reviews were submitted under the name of known scientists without their knowledge. The name and fictitious contact details of the reviewers were submitted by the Corresponding Author Guilherme Malafaia during the manuscript submission process. Although the paper was reviewed by additional reviewers chosen by the Editor, this breach compromised the editorial process. The Editors-in-Chief have lost confidence in the validity/integrity of the article and its findings and have determined that it should be retracted.”

Very similar retraction notices were issued for other STOTEN papers by Guilherme Malafaia, professor at Goiano Federal Institute in Brazil. A pollution researcher who polluted science with papermill fraud:

• Narayanan Shyam-Sundar , Sengodan Karthi , Sengottayan Senthil-Nathan, Kilapavoor Raman Narayanan , Balasubramanian Santoshkumar , Haridoss Sivanesh , Kanagaraj Muthu-Pandian Chanthini , Vethamonickam Stanley-Raja , Ramakrishnan Ramasubramanian , Ahmed Abdel-Megeed , Guilherme Malafaia Eco-friendly biosynthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles using Desmostachya bipinnata extract: Larvicidal and pupicidal potential against Aedes aegypti and Spodoptera litura and acute toxicity in non-target organisms The Science of the total environment (2023) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159512  (retracted on 14 February 2025)
• Basuvannan Rangasamy , Mathan Ramesh , Guilherme Malafaia , Rajan Maheswaran Hematological changes, redox imbalance, and changes in Na+/K+-ATPase activity caused by bisphenol-A and the integrated biomarker responses in Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822) The Science of the total environment (2023) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159844 (Retracted on 14 February 2025)
• Alex Rodrigues Gomes , Abraão Tiago Batista Guimarães , Letícia Paiva De Matos , Abner Marcelino Silva , Aline Sueli De Lima Rodrigues , Raíssa De Oliveira Ferreira , Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam , Md. Mostafizur Rahman , Chinnasamy Ragavendran , Chinnaperumal Kamaraj , Fabiano Guimarães Silva , Guilherme Malafaia Potential ecotoxicity of substrate-enriched zinc oxide nanoparticles to Physalaemus cuvieri tadpoles The Science of the total environment (2023) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162382 (Retracted on 14 February 2025.)
• Thiarlen Marinho Da Luz , Abraão Tiago Batista Guimarães , Stênio Gonçalves Da Silva Matos , Sindoval Silva De Souza , Alex Rodrigues Gomes , Aline Sueli De Lima Rodrigues , Edison Luiz Durigon , Ives Charlie-Silva , Ítalo Nascimento Freitas , Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam , Md. Mostafizur Rahman , Abner Marcelino Silva , Guilherme Malafaia Exposure of adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) to SARS-CoV-2 at predicted environmentally relevant concentrations: Outspreading warns about ecotoxicological risks to freshwater fish The Science of the total environment (2023) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163269 (Retracted on 13 February 2025)
• Mehedi Hasan , Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam , Most. Mastura Munia Farjana Jion , Md. Naimur Rahman , Susmita Datta Peu , Arnob Das , A.B.M. Mainul Bari , Md. Saiful Islam , Subodh Chandra Pal , Aznarul Islam , Tasrina Rabia Choudhury , Md. Refat Jahan Rakib , Abubakr M. Idris , Guilherme Malafaia Personal protective equipment-derived pollution during Covid-19 era: A critical review of ecotoxicology impacts, intervention strategies, and future challenges The Science of the total environment (2023) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164164  (Retracted on 13 February 2025.)
• Nowshin Nawar , Md. Mostafizur Rahman , Farah Noshin Chowdhury , Shumayta Marzia , Mir Mohammad Ali , Md. Ahedul Akbor , Md. Abu Bakar Siddique , Mst. Afifa Khatun , Md. Shahjalal , Roksana Huque , Guilherme Malafaia Characterization of microplastic pollution in the Pasur river of the Sundarbans ecosystem (Bangladesh) with emphasis on water, sediments, and fish The Science of the total environment (2023) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161704  (Retracted on 13 February 2025.)

Prior to that, at least 10 more Malafaia retractions happened in STOTEN, here some of them:

• Guilherme Malafaia, Ítalo Freitas Nascimento , Fernanda Neves Estrela , Abraão Tiago Batista Guimarães , Fabianne Ribeiro , Thiarlem Marinho Da Luz , Aline Sueli De Lima Rodrigues Green toxicology approach involving polylactic acid biomicroplastics and neotropical tadpoles: (Eco)toxicological safety or environmental hazard? The Science of the total environment (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146994 (Retracted on 20 December 2024)
• Guilherme Malafaia, Andreza Martins De Souza , Aryelle Canedo Pereira , Stênio Gonçalves , Amanda Pereira Da Costa Araújo , Renan Xavier Ribeiro , Thiago Lopes Rocha Developmental toxicity in zebrafish exposed to polyethylene microplastics under static and semi-static aquatic systems The Science of the total environment (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134867 (Retracted 20 December 2024)
• Abraão Tiago Batista Guimarães , Fernanda Neves Estrela , Paulo Sergio Pereira , Julya Emmanuela De Andrade Vieira , Aline Sueli De Lima Rodrigues , Fabiano Guimarães Silva , Guilherme Malafaia Toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics in Ctenopharyngodon idella juveniles: A genotoxic, mutagenic and cytotoxic perspective The Science of the total environment (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141937 (Retracted on 20 December 2024)
• Sadia Afrin , Md Mostafizur Rahman, Md Nayon Hossain , Md Khabir Uddin , Guilherme Malafaia Are there plastic particles in my sugar? A pioneering study on the characterization of microplastics in commercial sugars and risk assessment The Science of the total environment (2022) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155849 (Retracted on 20 December 2024)

More on PubPeer.

Yes, Guilherme Malafaia is a rotten papermill fraudster. But the story is more complicated than “just” made-up reviewers. Not all of Malafaia’s papers in STOTEN were retracted!

For the following retracted Malafaia paper, we know the handling editor, it is the STOTEN‘s Editor-in-Chief, Papermiller-in-Chief and Saudi-Shill-in-Chief Damià Barceló of University of Almeria in Spain, who is also known for constantly rigging peer review in his own journal, up to editorially handling his own papermilled papers (read the article above).

Mehedi Hasan , Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam , Most. Mastura Munia Farjana Jion , Md. Naimur Rahman , Susmita Datta Peu , Arnob Das , A.B.M. Mainul Bari , Md. Saiful Islam , Subodh Chandra Pal , Aznarul Islam , Tasrina Rabia Choudhury , Md. Refat Jahan Rakib , Abubakr M. Idris , Guilherme Malafaia Personal protective equipment-derived pollution during Covid-19 era: A critical review of ecotoxicology impacts, intervention strategies, and future challenges The Science of the total environment (2023) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164164 

Maybe Barcelo tries to save his ass here by sacrifising Malafaia? Just as Barcelo the editor was handling the above papers by Malafaia, the two boys published six joint papers in STOTEN and elsewhere in Elsevier, for example:

• Raíssa De Oliveira Ferreira , Abraão Tiago Batista Guimarães , Thiarlen Marinho Da Luz , Aline Sueli De Lima Rodrigues , Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam , Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Chinnasamy Ragavendran , Chinnaperumal Kamaraj , Ives Charlie-Silva , Edison Luiz Durigon , Helyson Lucas Bezerra Braz , Andrés Hugo Arias , Omar Cruz Santiago , Damià Barceló, Guilherme Malafaia First report on the toxicity of SARS-CoV-2, alone and in combination with polyethylene microplastics in neotropical fish The Science of the total environment (2023) doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163617 
• hiarlen Marinho Da Luz , Amanda Pereira Da Costa Araújo , Fernanda Neves Estrêla Rezende , Abner Marcelino Silva , Ives Charlie-Silva , Helyson Lucas Bezerra Braz , Paulo R S Sanches , Md Mostafizur Rahman , Damià Barceló, Guilherme Malafaia Shedding light on the toxicity of SARS-CoV-2-derived peptide in non-target COVID-19 organisms: A study involving inbred and outbred mice NeuroToxicology (2022) doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2022.03.012
• Abraão Tiago Batista Guimarães , Ítalo Nascimento Freitas , Nabisab Mujawar Mubarak , Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Fernando Postalli Rodrigues , Aline Sueli De Lima Rodrigues , Damià Barceló , Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam , Guilherme Malafaia Exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics induces an anxiolytic-like effect, changes in antipredator defensive response, and DNA damage in Swiss mice Journal of Hazardous Materials (2023) doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130004 

No, these papers are of course not retracted, and never will be. Barcelo apparently enjoys personal protection by someone at Elsevier. I don’t know why, he is not particularly sexy, what do they find in him is beyong my understanding.

But knowing how greedy Barcelo is, maybe it was he and not Malafaia who has been inventing reviewers all these years, to speed up the acceptance of submitted papermill products, for which the chief editor was very likely handsomely rewarded by the papermills?

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It will be cleared for the readers

One of Mu Yang‘s early forays into materials science eled to a retraction. The lead author is Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Farid of Government Graduate College in Pakistan, who has almost 80 papers on PubPeer and who featured here:

Mu, commenting as Dysdera arabisenen was assisted in her analysis by Valentin Rodionov, commenting as Palaquium morobense. The authors honestly announced that their study was a fabrication:

Muhammad Abdullah , Meznah M. Alanazi , Shaimaa A.M. Abdelmohsen , Saeed D. Alahmari , Salma Aman , Asma Sadaf , Abdullah G. Al-Sehemi , A.M.A. Henaish , Zubair Ahmad, Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Farid Fabrication of Nd2S3 based rGO nanohybrid via hydrothermal route and evaluation of capacitive features toward supercapacitor application Materials Science and Engineering: B (2024) doi: 10.1016/j.mseb.2024.117207 

The retraction from 18 February 2025 went:

“This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor. As detailed in a PubPeer thread (PubPeer – Fabrication of Nd2S3 based rGO nanohybrid via hydrothermal r …), there is unexpected similarity in the spectra in Figs. 1 and 2. The analysis of EDX spectra in Fig. 3d is also not convincing. The authors have not provided any further explanation to address these concerns. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process.”

Farid was accompanied on that fabrication by fellow papermillers Abdullah Al-Sehemi of King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia, and A.M.A. Henaish of Tanta University in Egypt and Ural Federal University in russia. The former has currently almost ONE HUNDRED papers on PubPeer, the latter “only” half as much. Here a typical paper by this duo, with a hand-drawn EDX spectrum:

Mehru Nisa , Haifa A. Alyousef , Albandari. W. Alrowaily , B.M. Alotaibi , Mohammed F. Alotiby , Gul Khan , Abdullah G. Al-Sehemi , A.M.A. Henaish Development of BaMnO3 nanoparticles embedded on rGO nanosheets via facile hydrothermal route to improve water oxidation International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2024) doi: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.04.320 

Don’t expect a retraction here. More about Elsevier’s International Journal of Hydrogen Energy in this article:

A similar cartoon by the russian agent Henaish was already successfully corrected by Elsevier:

Abdul Khaliq, Meznah M. Alanazi , Shaimaa A.M. Abdelmohsen , Saeed D. Alahmari , Khalid I. Hussein , A.M.A. Henaish , Muhammad Abdullah Facile synthesis of SnSe–MnTe nanocomposite as a promising electrode for supercapacitor applications Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids (2024) doi: 10.1016/j.jpcs.2024.112058 

Here a paper by all three boys, in another papermill-minded Elsevier journal, published after the journal started to clean up, and of course not retracted:

Mukhtiar Hussain , Saeed D. Alahmari , F.F. Alharbi , Syeda Rabia Ejaz , Muhammad Abdullah , Salma Aman , Abdullah G. Al-Sehemi , A.M.A. Henaish , Asma Sadaf , Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Farid Hydrothermal synthesis of the NiS@g-C3N4 nanohybrid electrode material for supercapacitor applications Journal of Energy Storage (2024) doi: 10.1016/j.est.2023.110289 

Here another fabrication, in yet another papermill-only Elsevier journal:

Muhammad Zeshan , F.F. Alharbi , Saeed D. Alahmari , Muhammad Abdullah , Abdullah G. Al-Sehemi , A.M.A. Henaish , Zubair Ahmad , Muhammad Suleman Waheed , Salma Aman , Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Farid Fabrication of niobium selenide-based rGO hybrid nanoparticles by hydrothermal method for supercapacitor applications Ceramics International (2024) doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2023.12.075 

We are talking about hundreds of utterly fake papers this trio published in allegedly respectable Elsevier journals. Most likely, only a few of these fabrications will be retracted, some will receive ridiculous corrcetions, the rest will stand untouched.

What’s the point of your publishing research papers then?

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