Schneider Shorts

Schneider Shorts 12.12.2025 – An independent analysis refuting allegations of inappropriate image editing

Schneider Shorts 12.12.2025 - insanity and retractions in Canada, a papermiller in Scotland, an ancient London artwork destroyed, with Belgian geniuses, unusual references, and finally, Elsevier cracks down on papermill fraud.

Schneider Shorts of 12 December 2025 – insanity and retractions in Canada, a papermiller in Scotland, an ancient London artwork destroyed, with Belgian geniuses, unusual references, and finally, Elsevier cracks down on papermill fraud.


Table of Discontent

Scholarly Publishing

Retraction Watchdogging


Scholarly Publishing

Review conducted by authors as their commitment to scientific transparency

Elsevier has been busy fighting papermill fraud. Zero tolerance. Even for papers not previously flagged on PubPeer.

This was corrected, but Mu Yang aka Dysdera arabisenen still fails to express her gratitude properly:

Mostafa R. Abukhadra , Nermen M. Refay , Ahmed Nadeem , Ahmed M. El-Sherbeeny , Khalid E. Ibrahim Insight into the role of integrated carbohydrate polymers (starch, chitosan, and β-cyclodextrin) with mesoporous silica as carriers for ibuprofen drug; equilibrium and pharmacokinetic properties International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.04.052 

“The authors regret that Fig. 1,Fig. 2 (Panel F), and Fig. 3 (Panel A) in the original publication were inadvertently replaced with incorrect versions during the figure preparation phase due to an internal versioning error.

This issue was identified during an internal post-publication review conducted by the authors as part of their commitment to scientific transparency. The corrected figures are provided below.

The authors confirm that these corrections do not affect the results, interpretations, or conclusions of the study, but are necessary to ensure accuracy and clarity of the published record.”

Corrigendum August 2025

Here is the Figure 1, before and after:

Dysdera arabisenen: “In Fig 1, all 4 traces have near-identical noises over the 2θ range marked by the pink box.”

Here is how Fig 2 was corrected, obviously the “incorrect” spectra was actually meant to be a electron microscope picture:

Dysdera arabisenen: “Are we sure the corrected version is a XRD figure?”

Here another papermill fabrication Elsevier mercilessly dealt with, again by Ahmed El-Sherbeeny (see his PubPeer record):

Mostafa R. Abukhadra , Merna Mostafa , Ahmed M. El-Sherbeeny , Ahmed Tawhid Ahmed Soliman , Abd Elatty E. Abd Elgawad Effective transformation of waste sunflower oil into biodiesel over novel K+ trapped clay nanotubes (K+/KNTs) as a heterogeneous catalyst; response surface studies Microporous and Mesoporous Materials (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2020.110465 

“The authors regret that a mistake occurred in the above cited paper: Fig. 1 is incorrect in the final version of the manuscript. The correct Fig. 1 is below. The scientific results, interpretations, or conclusions of the study are not affected by the wrong version of Fig. 1.”

Corrigendum October 2025

The corrected Figure 1:

Dysdera arabisenen: “I am not sure if the authors are referring to the partial similarity between E and F traces. E and F are near-identical EXCEPT for the section marked by the blue box.”

Another case, where the authors even forgot to submit a replacement for the correction, but Elsevier went ahead anyway:

Soha M. Albukhari , Mohamed Abdel Salam , Mostafa R. Abukhadra Effective retention of inorganic Selenium ions (Se (VI) and Se (IV)) using novel sodalite structures from muscovite; characterization and mechanism Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.jtice.2021.02.026 

The authors regret that Figure 3 in the published article was inadvertently replaced with an incorrect version during figure preparation. This error does not affect the results, interpretations, or conclusions of the study.

To ensure accuracy and clarity, we request to replace the incorrect figure with the correct version provided.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Corrected figure (Fig. 3. EDX spectra of raw muscovite (A), sodalite grains after 24 h (SD-24) (B), sodalite grains after 48 h (SD-48) (C), and sodalite grains after 72 h (SD-72) (D).)”

Corrigendum November 2025, dated April 2026

No replacement figure was attached to the Corrigendum, none of the promised 4 panels. Nothing. Anyway, this was the original Figure 3:

Dysdera arabisenen : “Fig 3: A,B,C,D samples have near-identical baseline noises.”


Retraction Watchdogging

An independent analysis refuting allegations of inappropriate image editing

Elisabeth Bik caused three retractions for Canadian scholars, with probably many more to follow.

Our heroes are: Diana Averill-Bates and Fathey Sarhan, two professors at University of Québec in Montreal. This was flagged in May 2025:

Francine Hamel , Mélanie Grondin , Francine Denizeau , Diana A. Averill-Bates, Fathey Sarhan Wheat extracts as an efficient cryoprotective agent for primary cultures of rat hepatocytes Biotechnology and Bioengineering (2006) doi: 10.1002/bit.20953 

Elisabeth Bik: “Concerns about Figure 3. Boxes of the same shape and color highlight unexpected repetitive features in panels B, C, and D.”

Retracted on 2 December 2025 (highlights mine):

“The retraction has been agreed due to concerns raised by third parties. Specifically, the micrographs presented in Figure 3B, C and D were found to contain numerous repetitive elements (i.e., cells) suggesting inappropriate image processing. Investigation by the publisher has confirmed the validity of the concerns.

The authors were unable to retrieve the raw data underlying Figure 3 due to the time elapsed since original publication. They also stated that the images presented in Figure 3 were acquired as original images and have not been altered in any form. They conducted an independent analysis of the magnified published images, highlighting that the cells identified as duplicated exhibit differences. According to the authors, the observed similarities are characteristic of cells within a homogeneous population (i.e., hepatocytes) and are therefore to be expected, thereby refuting allegations of inappropriate image editing. The authors stated that the issues identified do not affect the conclusions of the article.

However, the editors have deemed the clarification from the authors as insufficient to resolve their concerns. The similarities detected in Figure 3 were found to outweigh the differences highlighted by the authors and were considered unlikely to result solely from morphological resemblance within a homogeneous population of primary isolated hepatocytes. The editors have determined that the new experimental data generated by the authors to replace the images in Figure 3 were unsuitable for direct comparison with the originally published data, due to the substantial time gap between the two experimental sets. Therefore, the concerns of the editors were not addressed acceptably and accordingly, the article must be retracted. The authors disagree with the retraction decision.”

Consider: scientists constantly fail to store data longer than 5 years, but they claim to be perfectly able to preserve reagents and even frozen cell lines for decades and repeat any ancient experiment in a matter of weeks, to replace their old fake figures.

The second retracted paper is even worse:

Mélanie Grondin , Francine Hamel , Diana A. Averill‐Bates, Fathey Sarhan Wheat proteins improve cryopreservation of rat hepatocytes Biotechnology and Bioengineering (2009) doi: 10.1002/bit.22270 

Elisabeth Bik: “Concerns about Figure 4: First, five of the panels here appear to have been published before […] Other data in this paper also looks similar to that in the Cell Transplantation paper, albeit presented differently.”
See Fig 2 of
Mélanie Grondin , Francine Hamel , Diana A. Averill-Bates, Fathey Sarhan Wheat proteins enhance stability and function of adhesion molecules in cryopreserved hepatocytes Cell transplantation (2009) doi: 10.3727/096368909788237104 

This is the Fig 4 (or Fig 4, depending on the paper):

Elisabeth Bik: “Most importantly, panels in this paper’s Figure 4 – as well as those in Cell Transplantation (2009) Figure 2 – appear to contain duplicated elements.”

The retraction from 2 December 2025 had almost the same wording:

“The retraction has been agreed due to concerns raised by third parties. Specifically, several micrographs presented in Figure 4 were found to contain numerous repetitive elements (i.e., cells) suggesting inappropriate image processing. Furthermore, data presented in Figure 4 and part of the data presented in Figure 1 were found to have been previously published by the same author group [Grondin et al, (2009); https://doi.org/10.3727/096368909788237104]. Investigation by the publisher has confirmed the validity of the concerns.

The authors were unable to retrieve the raw data underlying Figure 4 due to the time elapsed since original publication. They also stated that the images presented in Figure 4 were acquired as original images and have not been altered in any form. They conducted an independent analysis [….]

The editors have determined that the new experimental data generated by the authors to replace the images in Figure 4 were unsuitable […] The authors disagree with the retraction decision.”

Here a related paper by these same clowns, again about frozen livers:

Mélanie Grondin , Francine Hamel , Fathey Sarhan, Diana A. Averill-Bates Metabolic activity of cytochrome p450 isoforms in hepatocytes cryopreserved with wheat protein extract Drug metabolism and disposition (2008) doi: 10.1124/dmd.108.021162 

Elisabeth Bik : “Concern about Figure 1:
Several panels appear to contain repetitive elements.”
“Also compare the ‘Uncoated WPEs’ panel marked above to the WPE panel in Figure 2 of” Grondin et al Cell transplantation (2009)

As you can imagine, the New Zealand native Averill-Bates has much more of that fake stuff on PubPeer, courtesy of Bik’s sleuthing. Here is a third retraction, again in a Wiley journal:

Mélanie Chow‐shi‐yée , Mélanie Grondin , Diana A. Averill‐Bates, François Ouellet Plant protein 2‐Cys peroxiredoxin TaBAS1 alleviates oxidative and nitrosative stresses incurred during cryopreservation of mammalian cells Biotechnology and Bioengineering (2016) doi: 10.1002/bit.25921 

Elisabeth Bik: “Concern about Figure 4A: The TaBAS1 panel in the HEPATOCYTES set appears to contain unexpected repetitive elements. Shown with blue and red boxes.”

This was the retraction from 3 December 2025:

“The retraction has been agreed due to concerns raised by third parties. Specifically, Figure 4A was found to contain repetitive elements (i.e., cells) suggesting inappropriate image processing. Investigation by the publisher has confirmed the validity of the concerns.

The authors were unable to retrieve the raw data underlying Figure 4A due to the time elapsed since original publication. They also stated that the images presented in Figure 4A were acquired as original images and have not been altered in any form. The authors conducted an independent analysis […]”

And so on, you read this insanity already. Not retracted, but again with Avereill’s mentee Melanie Grondin:

Sarah Kassis , Mélanie Grondin , Diana A. Averill-Bates Heat shock increases levels of reactive oxygen species, autophagy and apoptosis Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2020.118924 

Elisabeth Bik: “Concern about Figure 2’s Western blot: Red and cyan boxes highlight bands that look unexpectedly similar”
“Concern about Figure 2D: Yellow boxes: […] the same group of three cells is visible twice. Marked only in the LC3 panel but also visible in the other panels.”

Also Grondin et al 2007 is an orgy of fake gels, and so is Grondin’s more recent paper,Tchouagué et al 2019. But the only common name on all this fraud is Averill-Bates:

Khadidja Haidara , Michel Marion , Marielle Gascon-Barré , Francine Denizeau , Diana A. Averill-Bates Implication of caspases and subcellular compartments in tert-butylhydroperoxide induced apoptosis Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology (2008) doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2008.01.010 

Elisabeth Bik : “Concern about Figure 3C-2:
Boxes of the same color highlight lanes that look unexpectedly similar. One pair is in mirror image”
“Concern about Figure 5C-2:Blue boxes highlight lanes that look unexpectedly similar.”
“Concern about Figure 4C-2: Orange boxes highlight lanes that look unexpectedly similar.”
“Concern about Figure 5A-2: Pink boxes highlight lanes that look unexpectedly similar.”

Yet another fake paper, again a different student to blame:

Ahmed Bettaieb, Diana A. Averill-Bates Thermotolerance induced at a mild temperature of 40°C alleviates heat shock-induced ER stress and apoptosis in HeLa cells Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (2015) doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2014.09.016 

Elisabeth Bik: “Figure 5C.
Yellow boxes: Two panels appear to overlap with each other
Pink boxes: Two other panels appear to overlap with each other”
“Blue boxes: The pIRE1aS724 panel in Figure 6B looks very similar to the Caspase 3 panel in Figure 6C.”
“Red boxes: The cATF6a panel in Figure 2A looks very similar to the CHOP panel in Figure 3B.”
Figure 4C, […] Green boxes: In the GAPDH panel, two lanes appear to be visible twice.”

Yes, Averill-Bates students wilfully participated in this fraud. But the main culprit is not them.

Pragathi Pallepati , Diana A. Averill-Bates Mild thermotolerance induced at 40°C protects HeLa cells against activation of death receptor-mediated apoptosis by hydrogen peroxide Free Radical Biology and Medicine (2011) doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2010.11.022 

Elisabeth Bik : “Concern about Figure 1B: Cyan boxes: Two panels unexpectedly look similar to each other.”
“All panels also look similar to those in”
Pragathi Pallepati , Diana Averill-Bates Mild thermotolerance induced at 40 degrees C increases antioxidants and protects HeLa cells against mitochondrial apoptosis induced by hydrogen peroxide: Role of p53 Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics (2010) doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2009.12.014 
“Concerns about Figure 1E and 3C:
Red and blue boxes highlight lanes that look unexpectedly similar”

Same authors, just as fraudulent, and it was corrected by Elsevier:

Pragathi Pallepati , Diana A. Averill-Bates Activation of ER stress and apoptosis by hydrogen peroxide in HeLa cells: Protective role of mild heat preconditioning at 40°C Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (2011) doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2011.07.021

Elisabeth Bik: “Concern about Figure 1A;
Blue boxes highlight two panels that appear to overlap unexpectedly, with a change in magnification.”
“Concern about Figure 11 and 12: Pink boxes highlight two GAPDH panels that represent different samples”
“Concern about Figure 16C: Green boxes highlight two panels that unexpectedly overlap”

The Corrigendum was issued on 12 November 2025 (highlights mine):

“The authors regret that there is similarity between the two photo panels b and f in the published version of Fig. 1A. It is possible that there was an honest copy-paste mistake during sizing and assembly of the photos for the figure. Given that the original data from 2009 to 2010 is not available after this amount of time, the authors have repeated the experiment and are providing revised photos for Fig. 1A to correct the scientific record. The experiment has been repeated at least three times with distinct cell preparations obtained on different days. The data in Fig. 1A represents a control condition, which does not affect or change the interpretation of any of the results, the interpretation and the overall scientific conclusions of the published paper. To address this issue, the authors have provided a new version of Fig. 1A. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

I think some pathological liar (who might possibly answer to the name of Diana), is ripe for a mental institution.

Also, the Canadian professor is always ready to fight back with fake “raw data”!

Tatiana Souslova, Diana A. Averill-Bates Multidrug-resistant hela cells overexpressing MRP1 exhibit sensitivity to cell killing by hyperthermia: interactions with etoposide International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics (2004) doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2004.07.686 

Elisabeth Bik: “Concern about Figure 4: Red boxes highlight two lanes that look unexpectedly similar.”

Averill-Bates replied on PubPeer with scans of gels:

We sent the original Western blot films for Figure 4, from about 20 years ago, to the journal. The films prove that there was no duplication or splicing of protein bands or unethical manipulation of our published image. The image is attached. The journal viewed the image and closed the case on May 19, 2025

The “original Western blot films” didn’t match the published material and were falsified in Photoshop, as Bik found out:

“the MW band in the middle disappeared. Instead, I now noticed a potential duplication in that lane”

Averill-Bates is professor at Université du Québec since 1986. I wrote to her, and expressed my concerns about her mental health, but received no reply.

Also her colleague, the plant scientist Fathey Sarhan didn’t reply. As it turned out, his other paper without Averill-Bates contain forgeries also, see PubPeer. For example:

Jean-Benoit F Charron, Francois Ouellet, Mario Houde , Fathey Sarhan The plant Apolipoprotein D ortholog protects Arabidopsis against oxidative stress BMC Plant Biology (2008) doi: 10.1186/1471-2229-8-86 

Aneurus inconstans: “Figure 2a: two lanes appear twice within this figure (red boxes).”


Not deemed sufficient

This is apparently the first joint retraction for the Canadian superstars Martin Gleave and his mentee/lady friend/fellow board member Amina Zoubeidi at University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Read August 2025 Shorts and here:

The Canadian university refuses all communications and won’t investigate anything. Which is understandable, next to Vancouver Prostate Centre, Gleave (>60 papers on PubPeer) and Zoubeidi (>30 papers on PubPeer) preside over the newly established “M. H. Mohseni Institute of Urologic Sciences”, sponsored by wealthy donors with $65 million.

This was retracted by a Wiley-published Germany-based society journal:

Thomas Cordonnier , Jennifer L. Bishop , Masaki Shiota, Ka Mun Nip , Daksh Thaper , Sepideh Vahid , Devon Heroux , Martin Gleave, Amina Zoubeidi Hsp27 regulates EGF/β‐catenin mediated epithelial to mesenchymal transition in prostate cancer International Journal of Cancer (2015) doi: 10.1002/ijc.29122 

Aneurus inconstans : “The same Hsp27 blot appears in both Figure 1B and Figure 3 (red boxes).”
Aneurus inconstans: “Figure 3C, right panel: in this immuno-precipitation (IP) experiment using an Hsp27 antibody, two bands of the β-Cat blot seem to share a common origin (see enlargement to the bottom), as the background to the lower side of the bands shows identical features (magenta polygons).”

The PubPeer posts were from May 2025, Aneurus Inconstans notified the editor, and the retraction appeared on 3 December 2025.

“The retraction has been agreed upon following an investigation into concerns raised by a third party. Duplications were identified between the p-Hsp27 western blot bands presented in Figures 1b and 3a, despite the Vinculin loading controls being different. Additionally, in Figure 3c, the sh-27 lanes of IP:Hsp27 (Veh and EGF) in the β-Catenin panel appear duplicated. The authors cooperated with the investigation and provided some representative data, but this was not deemed sufficient. As a result, the editors consider the results and conclusions reported in this article unreliable. The authors disagree with the retraction.”

Congratulations, Amina and Martin! Many happy returns!

This by Gleave and his colleague Palma Rocchi (now in France), however was corrected by Wiley. Four blots with the central message to this study were recycled from earlier papers:

Palma Rocchi, Paul Jugpal , Alan So , Shannon Sinneman , Susan Ettinger , Ladan Fazli , Colleen Nelson , Martin Gleave Small interference RNA targeting heat‐shock protein 27 inhibits the growth of prostatic cell lines and induces apoptosis via caspase‐3 activation in vitro BJU international (2006) doi: 10.1111/j.1464-410x.2006.06425.x 

Dendrodoris tuberculosa, blots reused from:
Palma Rocchi, Alan So , Satoko Kojima , Maxim Signaevsky , Eliana Beraldi , Ladan Fazli , Antonio Hurtado-coll , Kazuki Yamanaka , Martin Gleave Heat shock protein 27 increases after androgen ablation and plays a cytoprotective role in hormone-refractory prostate cancer Cancer Research (2004) doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-03-3998  
Palma Rocchi, Eliana Beraldi , Susan Ettinger , Ladan Fazli , Robert L. Vessella , Colleen Nelson , Martin Gleave Increased Hsp27 after Androgen Ablation Facilitates Androgen-Independent Progression in Prostate Cancer via Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription 3–Mediated Suppression of Apoptosis Cancer Research (2005) doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-05-1840

The Correction from 7 October 2025 shamelessly plagiarised the PubPeer content, colour boxes and all, without reference:

“In figure 2 of the “Results” section, the authors used blots that were previously published and did not mention the journal references. The authors would like to add previously published paper references.

The authors apologize for these mistakes. The authors confirm that all the experimental results and corresponding conclusions mentioned in the paper remain unaffected. The corrected Figure 2 is shown as follows.

image

Adapted from previously published: Rocchi, P., Cancer Research, 2004;64(18):6595–602; Rocchi, P., Cancer Research, 2005;65(23):11083–93.”

The PubPeer user Dendrodoris tuberculosa commented:

The correction, however, now states that Figure 2 was “adapted” from earlier papers by the same group. That means the figure that documents the key claim (effective Hsp27 knockdown in these prostate cancer cell lines) is at least partly taken from previous publications, whereas the 2006 text makes the reader believe it was obtained in this study. This is a material discrepancy between the claims of the article and the source of the data.
2/ Secondary issue – the corrected figure imports PubPeer annotations without explanation. The corrected version of Figure 2 reproduces the colored boxes that were originally added on PubPeer to show that different bands came from different sources, but the correction does not explain what these colors mean.


Marie Curie Seal of Excellence

An Iranian papermill product, but from the University of Dundee in UK! The lead author is Shahin Homaeigohar, who worked in Germany and Finland and is presently in Scotland:

“Dr. Shahin Homaeigohar is an assistant professor in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Dundee, UK. He is a Baxter Fellow and a HEA Fellow. He is also a recipient of Marie-Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellowship (MSCA IF) and Helmholtz-DAAD PhD Fellowship.”

The last two are expensive and prestigious German fellowships, well invested obviously.

The first issue with this publication by Royal Society of Chemistry was flagged in October 2023, the second a year later:

Najmeh Ahmadpour , Mohammad Hossein Sayadi, Shahin Homaeigohar A hierarchical Ca/TiO2/NH2-MIL-125 nanocomposite photocatalyst for solar visible light induced photodegradation of organic dye pollutants in water RSC Advances (2020) doi: 10.1039/d0ra05192f 

Tetraphleps parallelus “All XRD patterns are identical”
Thallarcha lechrioleuca “Fig.7 The same XRD pattern in 2 copies”

In November 2024, the University of Dundee replied on PubPeer with “The University of Dundee School of Science and Engineering Research Integrity group is examining the points raised.” Then more was found:

Paralabrax clathratus : “Figure 1b. FTIR spectra look questionable too […] Areas of inexplicable coincidences are framed (red).
Many peaks are of straight angles. In some areas, backgrounds are as straight horizontal lines.”
Paralabrax clathratus: “Two plots are inexplicably similar (indeed, values for RhB (b) are slightly lower than those for MO (a)).”

In August 2025, the University of Dundee provided on PubPeer an update:

“The University of Dundee School of Science and Engineering Research Integrity Group has examined the points raised. We were able to obtain the original data for Figures 1a, 1b, and 7c. Unfortunately, we are unable to obtain the data for Figure 8. Based on the data we obtained, our independent analysis revealed indications of data duplication in Figures 1a, 1b, and 7c. We shared our findings with the Journal to facilitate any actions they deem appropriate.”

Shahin Homaeigohar celebrated by University of Dundee

In October 2025, the author Mohammad Hossein Sayadi provided a lengthy reply on PubPeer to “assure the scientific community that all data presented are original and obtained from our own experiments“. It was possibly AI-generated and ended with:

That said, we fully acknowledge the importance of bibliographic accurac…… We respectfully suggest that future implementations of the journal’s reference-checking system could benefit from enhanced AI-driven validation tools capable of detecting such subtle omissions, thereby supporting authors in maintaining the highest standards of scholarly referencing.

The Retraction arrived on 14 November 2025, where the authors admitted to papermilling (highlights mine):

“The Royal Society of Chemistry hereby wholly retracts this RSC Advances article after being contacted by the University of Dundee regarding an investigation into the reliability of the data presented in this RSC Advances article.

Concerns had been raised with the integrity of XRD data in Fig. 1a and 7c, the FTIR spectra in Fig. 1b, and the TOC analysis in Fig. 8.

The University of Dundee obtained the raw data for Fig. 1a, b, and 7c, but they were not able to obtain the raw data for Fig. 8.

Their investigation concluded that in Fig. 1a, the same data was used to produce multiple XRD traces. They concluded that in Fig. 1b, the Ca data appears to be identical over a substantial range of wavelengths, that the same data was reused in all plots for wavelength beyond ≈2000 cm−1, and that the noise appears to be identical. They found that in Fig. 7c, independent measurements were performed only for ≈25° < 2θ < ≈26°, ≈31° < 2θ < ≈33°, and ≈34° < 2θ < ≈35°, and potentially for ≈57° < 2θ < ≈58°. The remaining spectra seem to have been copied in several areas with some rescaling.

We requested the raw data from the authors, but they have not provided it, and claim this data was provided by a third party.

Given the significance of these concerns, the Editor has lost confidence that the findings presented in this paper are reliable.”

Note, the paper received a Correction in June 2023, but that was to add an Iranian grant number.

And yes, Dundee’s Fellow Homaeigohar and his friends have more such papermilled stuff on PubPeer. Green and sustainable papermill waste:

Mansooreh Khalatbary, Mohammad Hossein Sayadi , Mahmood Hajiani , Mohsen Nowrouzi , Shahin Homaeigohar Green, Sustainable Synthesis of γ-Fe2O3/MWCNT/Ag Nano-Composites Using the Viscum album Leaf Extract and Waste Car Tire for Removal of Sulfamethazine and Bacteria from Wastewater Streams Nanomaterials (2022) doi: 10.3390/nano12162798

Tetraphleps parallelus : “Identical XRD patterns”

Observe the spectra in this MDPI paper:

Mohammad Hossein Sayadi , Najmeh Ahmadpour , Shahin Homaeigohar Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Properties of Ag-CuFeO@WO Magnetic Nanocomposite Nanomaterials (2021) doi: 10.3390/nano11020298

Tetraphleps parallelus: “X-ray diffraction patterns of this article have a strange similarity with several articles.”

And there are thoise 3 papers, one of them again with Homaeigohar:

Mohammad Hossein Sayadi, Sholeh Ghollasimood , Najmeh Ahmadpour , Shahin Homaeigohar Biosynthesis of the ZnO/SnO2 nanoparticles and characterization of their photocatalytic potential for removal of organic water pollutants Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A (2022) doi: 10.1016/j.jphotochem.2021.113662 

Tetraphleps parallelus : “It seems that the two X-ray diffraction patterns for different materials are very similar”
Fatemeh Kargar , Akram Bemani , Mohammad Hossein Sayadi , Najmeh Ahmadpour Synthesis of modified beta bismuth oxide by titanium oxide and highly efficient solar photocatalytic properties on hydroxychloroquine degradation and pathways Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A (2021) doi: 10.1016/j.jphotochem.2021.113453 
Najmeh Ahmadpour , Mohammad Hossein Sayadi, Sara Sobhani , Mahmood Hajiani A potential natural solar light active photocatalyst using magnetic ZnFe2O4 @ TiO2/Cu nanocomposite as a high performance and recyclable platform for degradation of naproxen from aqueous solution Journal of Cleaner Production (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122023 

World’s Top 2% most- cited scientist, all those fellowships, Venture Competition award in Dundee, Falling Walls Lab award in Erlangen, Kajal Mallick memorial award in Aalto, plus Marie Curie Seal of Excellence, now think of all those sad failed scientist losers who got nothing.


Authors did not respond to requests

Retraction for Mohamad Krayem, a former PhD student of Ghanem Ghanem at the Institut Jules Bordet in Brussels, which is part of Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles (H.U.B), the academic hospital of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Read about their bad science in January 2024 Shorts, and about their joint retraction in June 2024 Shorts, together with Ghanem’s codirectors of Laboratory of Oncology and Experimental Surgery, Ahmad Awada and Fabrice Journe. Krayem then worked as postdoc of another questionable cancer researcher: François Fuks (read about him in December 2023 Shorts), and became in 2018 Head of Radiotherapy Research Unit at Ghanem’s LOCE lab at the Institut Bordet, which he runs (according to his LinkedIn profile) “in collaboration with Prof. Dirk Van Gestel and Prof. Ahmad Awada”.

This one however is by Krayem with other colleagues: at Institut Bordet:

Khalid Otmani, Redouane Rouas , Laurence Lagneaux , Mohammad Krayem , Hugues Duvillier , Mimoune Berehab , Philippe Lewalle Acute myeloid leukemia-derived exosomes deliver miR-24-3p to hinder the T-cell immune response through DENN/MADD targeting in the NF-κB signaling pathways Cell Communication and Signaling (2023) doi: 10.1186/s12964-023-01259-1 

“Figures 5C and 6D. Much more similar after horizontal flip, although the cells and proteins are different.”
Figures 5C and 5E.

The retraction appeared on 5 December 2025:

“The Editor-in-Chief has retracted this article after concerns were raised about the data reported. Specifically, there appears to be duplication between the following blots:

  • β-actin in Figs. 3d and 4e;
  • β-actin in Figs. 3e and 4b.
  • Fig. 5c p-65 and Fig. 6d ERK;
  • Fig. 5c P-ERK and Fig. 5e TNFR1;
  • Fig. 5c ERK and Fig. 6c JAK3;
  • Fig. 5d STAT3 and Fig. 5e P-65;
  • β-actin in Fig. 5e and f;
  • Fig. 5f ERK and Fig. 6c JAK3.

The authors did not respond to requests from the Publisher to provide raw data for the impacted figures. The Editor-in-Chief no longer has confidence in the reliability of the results and findings of this article.

Khalid Otmani did not explicitly state whether they agree or disagree with this retraction. The remaining authors did not respond to correspondence from the Publisher regarding this retraction.”


A horizontally flipped version

Retraction for Ian Adcock and his mentor Peter Barnes, two professors of pulmonology at Imperial College London in the UK, read about them here:

This ancient paper in a Wiley-published society journal, was flagged by the pseudonymous sleuth Claire Francis already in 2017, and then supplemented with much graver fidindings in July 2025:

Ian M Adcock , Yasuyuki Nasuhara , David A Stevens , Peter J Barnes Ligand-induced differentiation of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) trans-repression and transactivation: preferential targetting of NF-kappaB and lack of I-kappaB involvement British Journal of Pharmacology (1999) doi: 10.1038/sj.bjp.0702613 

Fig 3a
Fig 4d

The retraction appeared on 8 December 2025:

“The above article […] has been retracted by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Péter Ferdinandy; the British Pharmacological Society; and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The retraction has been agreed upon following an investigation into concerns raised by a third party. Duplication was identified between the β2-R (media) and β2-R (RU486) western blot bands presented in Figure 3a, with the β2-R (RU486) bands being a horizontally flipped version of the β2-R (media) bands. Furthermore, analysis indicated that the third and fourth bands in the IL-1β + FP panel of Figure 4d appear to have been spliced into the panel. The authors cooperated with the investigation but could not provide original data due to the length of time that has elapsed since the study was conducted. Due to the nature of these concerns, the editors no longer have confidence in the results and conclusions of this article. The corresponding author, I. M. Adcock, disagrees with the retraction; acknowledgement of the retraction could not be obtained from the remaining co-authors.”


Reference to one or more non-existent papers

And now, some papermill humour!

Pease enjoy the references which led to the retraction of this Elsevier paper:

Yan Jiang Exploring the impact of FDI on environmental innovation in China: An empirical investigation Heliyon (2024) doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39001

“This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor.

An investigation conducted on behalf of the journal by Elsevier’s Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics team has identified the presence of a reference to one or more non-existent papers, as indicated below:

  • [1] Z.D. Grthtyy, Zx D Grthtyy, (2022).
  • [8] D. Gfnnhn, Dfffb Gfnnhn, (2021).
  • [48] P. Xu, C.F. Reeder, C.R. Lscher, In w e i v re w e i v re, (2021).

Additionally, the team identified references that are irrelevant to the article. The authors were asked to comment upon the presence of these references in their work but did not respond. Consequently, the editor no longer has confidence in the integrity and the findings of the article and has decided to retract it. 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.

The authors have not responded to the retraction notice.”

Retraction 2 December 2025.

Added value, eh?


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12 comments on “Schneider Shorts 12.12.2025 – An independent analysis refuting allegations of inappropriate image editing

  1. Zebedee's avatar

    “M. H. Mohseni Institute of Urologic Sciences”, sponsored by wealthy donors with $65 million.”

    Fools and their money are easily parted, or is it money laundering?

    Like

    • Anonymous's avatar

      Probably. Looking at the photo with Mohseni, some faces will surely look familiar.

      But at the same time, this is a huge show off. Canada’s technical and natural sciences fields are packed with Iranian researchers in significant numbers. There are so many of them that it’s impossible for any one person to speak out against this cartel. That’s why Canadian academia will get worse every year because Canadian universities have become a transfer point for Iran. Not a place for science and technology.

      I say it is a major show off because the Iranian community in Canada has nothing to hide. They are already very powerful and there is no force to deter them from showing it.

      Apparently, even though they have become very powerful in Europe, they are not yet in a position to show off their power in this way. They probably still project an image of being oppressed, always smiling, but coming from difficult circumstances and living for science, with a respectable humility. However, seeing their acceleration and support in European universities, the likelihood of something similar happening in Canada within the next 10-20 years is quite high. Because they came to Canada years ago as victims, humble, and profiles who had dedicated their lives to science.

      Like

  2. Aneurus's avatar

    Fathey Sarhan currently sports 9 entries on PubPeer, have a look at these masterpieces:

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/C5F95A2BE9DC7147738210296942EC

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/6FE96F66E7EAD03A2FD56515A22C8E

    I’m not done with him.

    Like

  3. Zebedee's avatar

    another one for Institut Bordet geniuses

    More problematic data comes to light in a 2018 European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry paper.

    PubPeer – Targeting prohibitin with small molecules to promote melanog…

    Like

  4. Klaas van Dijk's avatar
    Klaas van Dijk

    See https://www.utoday.nl/spotlight/76308/how-phd-candidates-suffered-under-years-of-misconduct-by-professor-m for a case at the University of Twente, The Netherlands (publised on 11 December 2025). Note that all names of all persons have been changed into pseudonyms.

    Like

  5. Mitoboss's avatar

    What an impressive garland of great plant scientists we have this Christmas! Have a look to some others below.

    Hervé Vaucheret’s lab:

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/E524E6447D5EE235E82DDA8757ABE5

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/065E9D73312155C69BB922BCC702D2

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/F6DD3A020DEBAC2C7DB4ED3B91BA1F

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/3651579401B5BD5A04BCF6F95A911C

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/D42631A1A02A24731352BBEC9A157E

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/BC25EBB0A8A2A8AB83BA4D868353D7

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/8B1781415F0BB271415E67D69DF892

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/1B010904DB4E257E1FC1B1DC937B27

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/769C1D00434608E7BB667466F7E09E

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/57814D9E8524EBE6333AF399338DD0

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/9BE7193386BBA1FD3F4A4937B256E2

    It is worth noting that it appears Hervé Vaucheret may have had interactions with PubPeer moderators, as some of the concerns I raised were subsequently removed.

    Martin Crespi’s lab:

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/E71BE29D7DE1F52D61B103AC90665A

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/E7675F002AB2E554E176B492E4191A

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/F6DD3A020DEBAC2C7DB4ED3B91BA1F

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/94579837D90B5018F2945E6581DC8A

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/7A06DC94077F7F12EBFD240546F16A

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/4BE3F7240613EEE5973950DCA51FCE

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/E4D809C4395A097B6E65448A4065CE

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/9BE7193386BBA1FD3F4A4937B256E2

    Moussa Benhamed’s lab:

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/AB9C00A24DB1DD74BEC2BB100DB33B

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/9DF0AD8F52B9D503AC9891292AD5BA

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/55492D62595D926BDF0388F85E4BD2

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/9A9F71CE8F4C285674C7D47000EB64

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/4B8AB40750DF03B9FE8A550390A8E4

    https://pubpeer.com/publications/F1CD48D9B34142380E5B05D712D416

    What do these three laboratories have in common? Based on my investigations over the past five years, they are characterized by the recurrent reuse of identical control panels in their figures. Such practices raise concerns about data integrity and transparency, and may increase the risk of scientific misconduct, whether intentional or resulting from inadequate oversight or data management practices.

    Like

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